Pep Guardiola as you've never heard him before as he lays bare his Man City battles

As the clock ticked past the half-hour mark Pep Guardiola was still talking. There must have been 30 to 40 journalists in the room, a row of cameras pointing down at the Manchester City manager from the back, but it was beginning to feel like it was just Guardiola and his inquisitor. He kept his eyes locked on the person asking the question as he laid bare the challenges in front of him.

Amid the worst run of his managerial career, Guardiola opened up in a way he has rarely done so before in 492 games as City boss. By the end, it was beginning to feel like a therapy session, and you wondered if Guardiola would have left the room and headed to the training pitches feeling like he had unburdened himself in some way.

For so long, Guardiola has been like an ice skater picking up bouquets after a perfect performance, garlanded with praise for the team he has built and the inventions he has created. There have been bad days at the Etihad, but there has never been anything as sustained as this.

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This is now a run of six games without a win, and after five straight defeats, it was the draw that stopped the rot that might have been most damaging of all. A three-goal collapse against Feyenoord led Guardiola to inflict scratches on his head as he struggled to comprehend what he was witnessing.

Three days later only the cut on his nose remained, but the 53-year-old still looked a slightly stressed and under pressure figure as he appeared for his press conference to preview Sunday's trip to Anfield. Jurgen Klopp might be gone, but this rivalry has defined Guardiola's