Manchester City star Nathan Ake made a brutally honest admission after their dismal draw against Feyenoord.
On Tuesday night, in front of a packed crowd inside the Etihad Stadium, City produced arguably their worst 15 minutes of football under Pep Guardiola.
A brace from Erling Haaland plus a goal from Ilkay Gundogan had given the Blues a 3-0 lead but goals from Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Gimenez and David Hancko in the last 15 minutes made it 3-3.
As a result of the draw against Feyenoord, City are in 15th place in the Champions League table having only collected eight points from five matches.
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With a crucial Premier League clash against Liverpool coming up in the weekend, City defender Ake admitted that the squad could be suffering from mentality problems.
The Dutchman said on Amazon Prime Video: "Maybe it is. It is difficult to say. Obviously we have not been in this situation many times but this is where we have to show our character. When everything seems to go against us and everyone is writing us off, we have to stay strong mentally, believe in ourselves and stick together.
"Every season there is a period when they write us off. We have to make sure we stay strong as a team and staff and make sure we get out of it."
Meanwhile, City boss Guardiola said: "The game was fine at 3-0, playing good, but then we concede a lot goals because we were not stable. We gave them the first and then the other one, that is why it was difficult.
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"We lost a lot of games lately, we are fragile and of course we needed a victory, the game was good for the confidence. We were playing a good level but the first time something happened we had problems."
He added: "I don't know if it is mental. The first goal cannot happen and the second as well. After that we forget what happen, we were desperate to win and do well, we do well but don't win games."
Topics: Nathan Ake, Manchester City, Champions League, Feyenoord, Football