Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City face vital week as players respond to Bodo/Glimt defeat

Manchester City suffered an unexpected defeat to Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday, losing 3-1 in their penultimate Champions League matchday of the league phase.

Pep Guardiola's team conceded two first-half goals to Kasper Hogh before Jens Petter Hauge made it 3-0 before the hour.

Although Rayan Cherki pulled one back for the Manchester giants after 60 minutes, Rodri's sending-off in minute 62 all but killed the Cityzens' prospects of a fight back.

Maximum points could have sealed qualification as one of the top-eight teams, only for their second defeat of the league phase to keep Guardiola's team looking over their shoulder heading into the final round next week.

Now, the players have decided to refund supporters who made the trip to watch the team in Norway on Tuesday.

Bodo/Glimt vs Man City: Cityzens to refund fans who travelled

According to Sky Sports News, the Man City players have jointly decided to reimburse ticket costs for the 374 fans who made the trip for Tuesday's disappointing loss.

"Our supporters mean everything to us," a statement from the captains' group of Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Erling Haaland said.

"We know the sacrifice that our fans make when they travel across the world to support us home and away and we will never take it for granted. They are the best fans in the world.

"We also recognise that it was a lot of travelling for the fans who supported us in the freezing cold throughout a difficult evening for us on the pitch. Covering the cost of these tickets for the fans who travelled to Bodo is the least we can do.

"We're ready to fight on Saturday for our game against Wolves and then again next Wednesday when we face Galatasaray in front of our amazing fans at the Etihad."

Man City form: Star midfielder worried about "fragile" team

Tijjani Reijnders has noted that the team did not underestimate the Norwegian outfit; however, the Netherlands star mentioned that they are mentally frail at present.

The Cityzens have won just two of their last seven across all competitions, losing the last two in the Premier League and Champions League, with their two wins coming in cup competitions: a 10-1 success over Exeter City and a 2-0 triumph at Newcastle United.

"We never underestimated them," said the Dutchman said. "We knew they are pretty good at home on the artificial grass. We should have done much, much better, especially because we could have qualified for the top eight. Now it's on the last game.

"At the moment, we are fragile. We aren't consistent like we were before. It's something we have to work on and get out of as quick as possible.

"The most important thing now is that we stick together as a group, especially in the tough moments and keep doing the basics well."

Man City next face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday before also hosting Galatasaray four days later.