A succession of injuries damaged City’s challenge on all fronts last season and there is a similar feeling this time round.
Guardiola had to make the trip to Norway without eight injured players, as well as new signing Antoine Semenyo, who is ineligible to play in the group phase of the Champions League, and suspended captain Bernardo Silva.
It meant Guardiola had to field City’s youngest-ever Champions League starting XI, with four players aged 21 or under playing in the game.
Centre-back Max Alleyne, recalled from Championship side Watford to aid the injury crisis, stepped up to the biggest stage but struggled on his Champions League debut and was culpable for the first two goals.
Having ended 2025 with eight straight victories, City have made a miserable start to 2026, winning only two of their seven games and suffering back-to-back losses, having endured a dismal defeat by Manchester United on Saturday.
“We have to come back,” said Guardiola. “The results since [the end of] 2025 have not been good in terms of the Premier League and today.
“Now we have to move forward with Wolves and Galatasaray. Today was an incredible opportunity for us but the feeling is [everything is] going wrong.
“You have to try to change it and the players that are there will try it.”
A major worry will also be the form of star striker Erling Haaland, who had a trip to forget to his homeland. He has now gone a month without scoring from open play with only one penalty to show from his past eight games.
On Saturday, Guardiola called on Fifa and Uefa to give players a minimum of 72 hours rest between games but the Spaniard decided to field Haaland for the full 90 minutes against Bodo/Glimt, giving Egypt’s Omar Marmoush – just back from the Africa Cup of Nations – only 20 minutes to feature.
Midfielder Rodri will now miss next week’s crucial game against Galatasaray. His sending off, after receiving two yellow cards in the space of 53 seconds, cost his side the chance of turning the game around.
“We lost and since the new year, [there are] many things against [us],” added Guardiola. “But I know how good a team they are. We didn’t underestimate them. They were in the semi-finals of the Europa League last season, they were fresh in mind and we arrived in some departments without important players.
“They were a little bit fragile like some periods last season. We have to change the dynamic quickly.”
