Manchester City blew a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord in the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday that extend their winless run to six games.
The Premier League champions did snap a five-game losing streak but did little to boost confidence ahead of Sunday's trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool by conceding three times in the final 15 minutes.
Two goals from Erling Haaland, either side of Ilkay Gundogan's deflected effort, looked set to restore some order for City.
But the defensive frailties that have been the root cause for a staggering collapse in recent weeks was exposed in the closing stages.
Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko hit back to salvage a vital point for the Dutch giants.
Despite the shocking result, Pep Guardiola refused to criticise his players.
"It was not necessary to say anything to [the players], they know it perfectly," Guardiola said. "It is what it is, difficult to swallow now. We give away especially the first one and after we are not stable enough."
Moussa pulled one back for Feyenoord in the 75th minute when he pounced on a terrible back pass from Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol.
Another sloppy pass by the 22-year-old led to Gimenez making it 3-2 seven minutes later before Hancko equalised for the Dutch side in the 89th minute.
"He is so young, he'll learn," Guardiola said of Gvardiol, who looked distraught after Feyenoord's second goal. "I'll be so wrong if I point specific things at him. He's a fantastic player, fantastic boy and more than ever must be helped."
At the end of the game the crowd booed City, who dropped to 15th in the 36-team table on eight points, two points off the top eight who qualify automatically for the last 16, with the next 16 sides entering a two-leg playoff to try to join them.
"They come here not to remember the success in the past, but to see the team win," Guardiola said of the shell-shocked City supporters. "Of course they are completely right to express what they feel. Of course they are disappointed."
"We concede a lot of goals because we are not stable. We lost a lot of games lately. We are fragile and of course we need a victory," added Guardiola.
"The game [at 3-0] was good for the confidence, playing a good level and the first time something happens we have problems."
Lewandowski on song
Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over French side Brest on Tuesday, with the Polish striker joining Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the only players to pass the 100 goals mark in the competition.
Victory lifted Barca to second in the 36-team table on 12 points from five games, one point behind Inter Milan and level with third-placed Liverpool, who host Real Madrid on Wednesday. Brest dropped to ninth spot with 10 points.
Lewandowski put Barca ahead after being fouled by goalkeeper Marco Bizot and converting from the spot in the 10th minute, scoring his 100th Champions League goal.
After successive La Liga games without a victory, and still missing injured teenage winger Lamine Yamal, Barca returned to winning ways with a dominant display as they created 19 scoring attempts against a side who did not have a shot on target.
But the wasteful hosts squandered several chances to extend their lead and were almost caught out by a couple of counter attacks before Dani Olmo got their second with a fine individual goal after dribbling past two defenders and firing home.
Lewandowski wrapped up the win in added time with a tidy finish inside the far post from Alejandro Balde's assist.
"I'm very happy, very happy. 101 goals in the Champions League is great number," Lewandowski told Movistar Plus.
"I didn't think I could score so many goals in the Champions League. To join Messi and Ronaldo ... I guess they are good, right?"
Inter on top
Inter Milan took another step towards direct qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-0 win over Leipzig which moved the Italians top of the table.
Castello Lukeba's own goal midway through the first half was enough for Inter, who are the only team yet to concede a goal, to win their fourth straight match in Europe's elite club competition.
Simone Inzaghi's side return to their Serie A title defence at high-flying Fiorentina on Sunday after a routine win at a far from full San Siro which makes a top-eight finish extremely likely with three matches remaining.
"We're not certain of everything, we need to wait for tomorrow's matches, 16 points might not be enough," Inzaghi told reporters when asked if his team needed one more win to ensure a last-16 spot.
"We're going really well and we need to keep on, this is no time to be making calculations."
Meanwhile, PSG coach Luis Enrique was left frustrated after a 1-0 loss at Bayern Munich, but remained hopeful that the Ligue 1 winners would progress to the next round.
PSG, winless in their last four Champions League outings, are 26th in the table with four points from five matches, two spots below the threshold for a place in the knockout phase playoffs.
"We gave a bad impression, a bad impression from the first minute," Enrique told PSG TV after the 10-man visitors failed to find an equaliser for Kim Min-jae's first-half strike.
"Bayern Munich were superior to us in the first half ... we thought we had chances and I think the start of the second half was better. But after Ousmane [Dembele] was sent off, we suffered."
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
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Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Zayed Sustainability Prize
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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England 2 (Lingard 78', Kane 85')
Croatia 1 (Kramaric 57')
Man of the match: Harry Kane (England)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
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Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
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Power: 727hp
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