Once champions, now chokers: Has Man City's aura of invincibility been shattered for good?

Manchester City’s shock Club World Cup exit to Al Hilal marks a stunning fall from dominance, raising questions about Pep Guardiola’s fading magic.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Not for a team that, just two seasons ago, completed one of the most dominant campaigns in modern football history — sweeping the Premier League, the FA Cup, and finally lifting that elusive Champions League trophy in Istanbul. That night in 2023 felt like the crowning moment of a Pep Guardiola project nearly a decade in the making. Manchester City were not just winners — they were the benchmark, the blueprint, the juggernaut.

But football doesn’t do fairy tales for long. Two years on, the story has changed — and not in the way City fans would’ve imagined.

On a humid night in the United States, in front of a crowd still getting used to seeing Saudi clubs take on European powerhouses, City imploded against Al Hilal. Not just stumbled — imploded. The 4-3 defeat after extra time wasn’t just a shock exit from the Club World Cup. It felt like something deeper. A crack in the armour. A spell breaking.

For years, Pep Guardiola seemed untouchable. The man redefined domestic dominance in England. He took a club already rich in ambition and turned it into a footballing institution. Six Premier League titles since he took charge in 2016. League records obliterated. Cup wins stacked like dominoes. A style of football that often felt like science fiction.

But even the best run out of steam. Even Pep.

There’s been something off about City this season. Not dramatically, but unmistakably. A third-place league finish, a knock-out phase exit from the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid, and now this — bundled out of a tournament they were favourites to win, by a side many still hesitate to take seriously on the global stage.

He spoke after the match, looking unusually subdued: “It’s a pity… the vibes have been good,” he said. But vibes don’t win tournaments.

The 2024–25 campaign has been littered with false starts, patchy form, and warning signs. Rodri, so often the heartbeat of the side, has been out for most part of it with injury. Erling Haaland’s goals have dried up at key moments — and now he’s nursing a thigh strain. Ederson hasn’t looked his usual self. Even the machine-like midfield looks, at times, lost.

Against Al Hilal, all those issues came to the fore.

They started brightly enough, sure. Bernardo Silva tapped in a controversial opener. But by the second half, they were unraveling. Malcom — yes, the same Malcom who barely got a sniff at Barcelona — danced through a porous defence like it was 2017 again. City’s structure collapsed like a house of cards.

You know things are bad when Guardiola’s substitutions come too late to matter. Foden and Cherki finally combined for a beautifully taken equaliser — Foden’s 100th for the club, no less — but it was too little, too late. City had already dug themselves a hole too deep.

Let’s be clear — Al Hilal didn’t just fluke their way through. They earned it. Simone Inzaghi, barely weeks into his new job, outfoxed Pep tactically. His players ran harder, pressed smarter, and — crucially — finished their chances. Ruben Neves was a rock. Koulibaly, once a reported City target, popped up with a decisive extra-time header. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic bullied a midfield that once looked impenetrable.

In many ways, this wasn’t a freak result. It was a calculated dismantling. And it sends a message that the so-called “footballing elite” can no longer treat these global tournaments as warm-ups or exhibitions. The rest of the world is catching up — fast.

Remember when teams would come to the Etihad and hope to escape with a 2-0 loss? That era feels like it’s slipping away.

There was a time, not long ago, when City would have killed a game like this by halftime. Gone up 3-0, shut it down, passed teams to death. Now, they’re conceding four against Al Hilal and surviving on desperation tackles from Akanji just to stay alive.

Even set-pieces, once a City strength, are now a liability. The irony? New set-piece coach James French was brought in to sharpen those details. Instead, they were undone by two headed goals and near-chaos at every corner.

For Guardiola, this summer will be a crossroads. Does he rebuild again? Does he tweak the system? Or — and this will be whispered more than shouted — is this the beginning of the end?

There’s no denying his legacy. He changed English football. He made Manchester City a superclub. But legacies don’t protect you from the present. And right now, the present looks shaky.

The dressing room looked stunned. Players silent, some biting their nails, others staring at the turf. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Not in the quarterfinal of a Club World Cup they were supposed to cruise through. Not against a team from a league they didn’t even rate six months ago.

Manchester City will bounce back. Clubs this big always do. But bounce-backs aren’t instant. They take pain. They take change. They take a long, hard look in the mirror.

Right now, they aren’t the best team in the world. They’re not even close. The aura of invincibility? It’s gone. Shattered not by Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, but by Al Hilal — on a night City won’t forget for all the wrong reasons.

From champions to chokers — that’s the story now. And unless something changes soon, it won’t just be a bad season.

It might be the end of an era.