De Bruyne strop and Haaland reaction in latest Man City shambles gives Pep Guardiola new problem

The ball had barely hit the back of the net before Ruben Dias was looking for someone to blame.

Juventus had two attempts to get a cross in for Weston McKennie on the break yet he was still unmarked. Josko Gvardiol had followed Dias to the near post to mark Dusan Vlahovic, to leave the scorer free.

As Juventus celebrated, Ilkay Gundogan threw his arms up in dismay, Kevin De Bruyne threw a strop. Bernardo Silva just turned around and walked back to his mark, so Erling Haaland was the one left to rally his teammates for a final attempt at salvaging Manchester City's latest disappointment.

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Dias spoke passionately about the need for City to return to basics, and how their reaction to this rotten run would define their legacy. He admitted that the group of six captains have taken it in turns to intervene in recent weeks to try and turn things around and they have the right voice for the right moment when times get tough.

It was concerning that five of the six-strong leadership group were on the pitch at the Allianz Stadium, yet none had any answers. City collapsed again having done everything their manager asked to build their confidence back up.

And it wasn't like they were facing a particularly confident side themselves. This was one of the standout fixtures when the League Phase draw was generated, but in reality it was more of a mid-table affair between two sides desperately out of form. City had one win in nine before travelling to Turin, Juventus haven't lost this season but can't win - just two wins in ten for them.

That should have been an opportunity for City to follow their manager's pre-match instruction to rediscover some rhythm ahead of the Manchester derby. That was to keep things simple - be patient on the ball and quickly regain possession when it is lost. He felt they were doing the opposite in recent weeks as he looked to move the narrative on from the injury crisis.

Grealish returning helped that in a tactical first half, Guardiola keeping him in midfield and citing his retention skills pre-match. As a result, Bernardo Silva was out wide, and that also boosted the attacking patience Guardiola craved. Maybe Ederson's recall was part of the plan, too, the Brazilian better on the ball than Stefan Ortega who has a tendency to go long.

It was approaching half-time when they carved out a first shot - De Bruyne expertly finding Haaland in the box - much to the frustration of fans back home bemoaning the lack of directness. But with two thirds of possession, it was just what the manager ordered.

"What will save us is the way we play," Guardiola stressed 24 hours earlier in the Allianz Stadium. "With the ball, it's being incredibly patient. Let them run and run. Now we are in a moment that we attack so quick and we do a lot of things not in the right tempo that we lose the ball and have to consider a lot of transitions.

"[We need to] have the ball and pass the ball to a teammate, in the right feet, in the right foot, in the right tempo. The simple things do it better. And after that, you will get the confidence because you cannot imagine how you regain the confidence when you make an extra thousand million passes and you are involved in the game. You are involved all together. That helps us to be who we are."

If that was the instruction, City were following it to perfection - even if the end product wasn't particularly entertaining. Juventus were restricted to long-range efforts, reinforcing the idea that the plan was working.

That was, until all the hard work was undone with another unforced error that Guardiola was hoping would be cut out. Ederson saved smartly from Federico Gatti, but Josko Gvardiol's clearance was botched and he was then outjumped by Dusan Vlahovic to power a header onto Ederson's shoulder before it dropped just over the line.

City were unhappy with the awarding of the goal, but once again they only had themselves to blame. This one a truly comical combination of mistakes.

Guardiola had his head in his hands when Jeremy Doku fired a cross along the face of goal as Haaland peeled off for the cutback. The manager repeatedly insisted that City's issues are not down to confidence before the game, but it was clear to see how fragile the collective mindset is at the moment.

One mistake led to another and City were making life hard for themselves again.

The second goal was almost as bad as the first, heads dropping lower than they were already and only Haaland offering encouragement. It was the same story at full-time as De Bruyne stood with hands on hips, along with some teammates, and many stood just staring at the away end.

Guardiola may have to rethink his assertion that confidence is not an issue in this side. It's just one win in ten now, and a Manchester derby up next. A direct route to the Champions League knockout stages looks beyond them now, with a top-24 finish now a more pressing concern.

They are not just lacking confidence, they are also lacking leaders at the moment.