Ilkay Gundogan admits defeat to Liverpool on Sunday could end title hopes for a Manchester City side reeling from another crushing result.
City’s miserable spell continued as they squandered a 3-0 lead inside the final 15 minutes to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola’s side at least avoided a sixth successive defeat in all competitions, but it made for chaotic preparation for this weekend’s crunch visit to Anfield.
Liverpool will go into that game flying high with an eight-point lead over champions City at the top of the Premier League.
“To stay in the title race, probably yes, (it’s a game City can’t afford to lose), because 11 points would be a huge gap,” said midfield veteran Gundogan.
“Anfield is always tough, no matter the situation. We’ve struggled in recent years going there and we know Liverpool are a great team full of confidence right now.
“It’s going to be as tough as it is possible to be, but that sums up the situation right now. It seems we have to go through this season the toughest way possible.
“Obviously we’ve done this ourselves a little bit, but hopefully we can get out of that as quickly as possible, especially in such a big game.
“It would give ourselves a boost to perform well and then obviously to get something out of the game.”
City had looked like picking themselves up after Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing by Tottenham condemned them to their worst run of results since 2006.
A double from Erling Haaland – the first from the penalty spot – either side of a deflected Gundogan effort put City on course for what seemed a comfortable win.
Yet two errors from Josko Gvardiol late in the game allowed Feyenoord to respond with goals from Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Gimenez before an Ederson blunder led to a last-gasp David Hancko equaliser.
Gundogan, the 2023 treble-winning captain who rejoined the club last summer after a short spell at Barcelona, admitted the nature of the draw made it feel like a defeat.
The 34-year-old German said: “Right now it is tougher. It feels like a loss.
“If we lose 2-0 at home obviously we would be disappointed, but the way we did it here, ‘urgh’, it could have only been worse if we’d conceded a fourth goal and lost the game.
“The sensation right now is big disappointment, but football is football and football sometimes creates incredible moments and difficult moments that you have to face.”