Man City double defeat puts Blues at risk as Txiki Begiristain takes note and Man United watch on

Manchester City's humiliating defeat at Sporting may well have happened in the old Champions League format, but it has been heralded as an example of how great the shiny new League Phase is.

City's two-year unbeaten run in Europe ended as they crashed to a 4-1 battering in Portugal, making it three defeats in a row in all competitions and a first in four Champions League games this season. As things stand they face a play-off to get into the last-16 but have four games to put things right and three wins from matches against Feyenoord, Juventus, Club Brugge and PSG should be enough.

Down in the academy, Ben Wilkinson's under-19s don't have that luxury in the UEFA Youth League. They too were beaten by Sporting but unlike their senior counterparts, they only have two more fixtures to book a knockout spot.

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A 2-0 defeat at Sporting's training ground followed a 4-2 reverse against Inter on the opening match-week, sandwiching bigger wins over Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague. Six points from four games leaves the U19s 17th in the 36-team league that mirrors the Champions League format with one significant difference.

The top 22 sides qualify directly for the knockout stages, with the top six facing the bottom six. The middle 10 sides take on clubs from the 'Domestic Champions' path, sides who won or did well in their domestic leagues but weren't part of the Youth League phase due to their first team not being in the Champions League.

Among those clubs who have a final knockout tie to progress are Manchester United, setting up a potential