Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter in Lisbon

Let’s deal with the reality of where Ruben Amorim finds himself now.

He was joking before the game when he said a Sporting victory over City would make United feel another Sir Alex Ferguson was arriving.

There was a huge amount of added interest in the game in Manchester. Those of a United persuasion, fans and club officials alike, were delighted with what they saw. To some, it made a mockery of City’s private insistence that Amorim was not a name on their wish list for when Pep Guardiola eventually leaves.

But nobody, Amorim said, should read too much into events at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

“I already said previously you cannot transport one reality into another,” he said. “At Manchester United you cannot play exactly like this. You cannot play so defensively and so there we will have to adapt. Clearly it is really difficult to beat this team and to beat Pep Guardiola. And he is not a worse manager than me.

“It will be a completely different world, a different team, we won’t have that much time to train and we will begin from a different starting point."

Amorim’s observations about his defence are worth further examination. The most obvious difference being widely analysed is that Amorim plays three central defenders. Against City, that turned into a back five for long stretches of the game.

Yet that is one of the attractions. Inside United they believe labelling Amorim as someone who plays with three central defenders is too simplistic.

If Amorim sticks to the formation, does he have the personnel to make it effective?

If not, will he have to compromise to the extent Erik ten Hag did, where his eventual team bore no relation to the style he was supposed to be bringing with him from Ajax.

Image source, Getty Images

Andy: 'You know City have what it takes'. Of course. They’ve won four leagues in a row adding a Champions League too. One thing is for certain, they’re still the team to conquer. We all have that sinking feeling that they will eventually bounce back.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter in Lisbon

Ruben Amorim summed it up perfectly.

His last Sporting home game, after four and a half years helping transform the club, pitted against a Manchester City side which cast a decade-long shadow over his new Manchester United team by virtue of the total domination that was once theirs.

"It was written it had to be like this," said a delighted Amorim after Sporting had condemned Manchester City to their third defeat in a week and their biggest loss since September 2020.

Amorim was repeatedly pushed to the front of the Sporting squad as they made a well-deserved lap of honour to take the acclaim of fans it had been said turned against the 39-year-old but it turns out still love him.

A reluctant hero on the basis he has said he didn't really like attending the public ceremonies that have accompanied Sporting’s two Portuguese title wins, the first of which ended a 19-year wait, Amorim was eventually tossed in the air by his players.

They clearly have a huge amount of admiration for the man who will be their boss for one more game, at Braga on Sunday.

After that, he heads to England. For a new challenge. And what a challenge it is.

Read Simon Stone's full analysis here

Image source, Getty Images

That's one viewpoint Tom, but it is important to note that it was Ruben Amorim's choice to make...and he clearly felt it was an opportunity he couldn't turn down.

Ruben Amorim was keen to remain humble after last night's stunning win over Manchester City.

The Sporting boss was clear that the Spaniard sets the managerial standard he hopes to reach.

"He [Guardiola] is so much better than me at the moment," Amorim said post-match.

"But I believe a lot in my newest club. We will start from a lower level, maybe I can say that, and we will improve the team, the club. Let's see..."

Image source, Getty Images

After Manchester City's 4-1 defeat in Lisbon last night, the next time Pep Guardiola and Ruben Amorim will face each other in opposite dugouts will be at the Etihad in the Manchester derby on 15 December.

But what does Amorim - who will take charge of City's local rivals Manchester United on 11 November - have in store when he faces Guardiola across the Manchester divide?

Image source, Opta

Guardiola’s City team has never had less than 50% possession against a United side. The lowest recorded was 51.9% in a 1-0 League Cup defeat at Old Trafford in October 2016.

Guardiola’s City enjoyed more than 70% possession in three games against Erik ten Hag’s United, but two of those were defeats - a 2-1 Premier League defeat at Old Trafford in January 2023 and the FA Cup final loss in May. That Wembley loss saw City have 73.6% possession – Guardiola’s highest against United for City, but also face 11 shots.

Last night, City recorded 72.7% possession and 20 shots to Sporting's nine but still came away from the Estadio Jose Alvalade with a 4-1 defeat.

Guardiola has the best record of any manager with more than 10 games played against Manchester United in the Premier League. He has nine wins from 16 games with a 56.3% win record. That ratio is only bettered by Mikel Arteta (66.7%) - but his is from only nine Premier League games.

Stephen Warnock
Former Liverpool defender on Football Daily podcast

He will be the first manager to be adored before he has even walked through the door, potentially a statue up outside! It is quite incredible isn't it.

Manchester United fans will be excited, obviously after seeing that. I bet the viewing figures tonight to watch that game would have been a lot of Manchester United fans wondering "how are we going to play? What is the system going to be? What is the manager like? What are his mannerisms like on the touchline? How involved is he in the game? How animated is he?".

They will be very excited by this result and rightly so because they want some belief and some optimism around their football club.

There will be a real belief now that this guy can come in and [change things].

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter in Lisbon

Image source, Getty Images

Sporting regulars in the media tribune said their 4-1 victory over English champions Manchester City was the greatest single game of departing manager Ruben Amorim’s reign, which has one more match to go, at Braga on Sunday.

"I think that it was clearly a landmark, big moment for everyone, the result, and that helped with the feeling of the goodbye to the fans," said Amorim afterwards.

"I think everyone here deserved this moment, we were very happy here at the Jose Alvalade and to end in such a way adds a special touch. I think everyone deserved this."

The fear in this part of Lisbon must be that momentum from seven successive victories in all competitions cannot be maintained. Not that it tempered the celebrations at the final whistle.

As for Amorim, he joked on Monday that a victory might mean United fans start comparing him to Sir Alex Ferguson.

That might be a stretch. But, there could not have been a better way to shove a huge amount of credit in the bank.

Following a 4-1 victory for his Sporting side against Manchester City, incoming Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim says he is "ready for the challenge" of the Premier League.

While Manchester City are undoubtedly going through a tough spell at the moment, Sporting boss Ruben Amorim is living his best life.

He leaves the Portuguese champions in a great place - unbeaten this season, with 15 wins and two draws in all competitions.

And after a final league game against Braga, the 39-year-old head coach will take up his role at Manchester United on the back of a statement win against his new club's biggest rivals...

So the question is, should Manchester City be worried as they head to Brighton on Saturday on the back of a third consecutive loss, or will they take out their frustrations on Fabian Hurzeler's in-form side?

History suggests the latter.

City have enjoyed a number of heavy wins at Brighton during Pep Guardiola's time at the Etihad.

Since the 2017-18 season, the Premier League champions have won five, drawn one and lost one at the Amex Stadium in the Premier League:

• 2023-24 - Brighton 0-4 Man City
• 2022-23 - Brighton 1-1 Man City
• 2021-22 - Brighton 1-4 Man City
• 2020-21 - Brighton 3-2 Man City
• 2019-20 - Brighton 0-5 Man City
• 2018-19 - Brighton 1-4 Man City
• 2017-18 - Brighton 0-2 Man City

Stephen Warnock
Former Liverpool defender on Football Daily

I don't get too worried about them [Manchester City] as more often than not Guardiola finds the answers. This will hurt the players, Their pride will be very hurt, dented.

They will want to respond, they will want to answer everyone back. More often than not when they have had set backs, they have done that.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, for his part, came out fighting as he contemplated his side's worst sequence of results since 2018.

Only once during Guardiola’s reign had City lost three times in a row in a single season, before Tuesday night's defeat at Sporting.

Although he rejected Bernardo Silva’s post-match assertion that the club is currently in a "dark place", Guardiola also accepted after a defeat of this size, words are largely meaningless.

However, he is not backing away from the challenge.

"We knew it would be a tough season at the start," he said. "I like it. I love it. I want to face it and lift my players.

"I won’t give up, that’s for sure."

• Read more reaction from Guardiola.

Andros Townsend
Former England winger on Football Daily podcast

For me I don't worry about Manchester City. I know the turn of the year in February or March they are going to go on a 13, 14, 15-match winning streak and win the league again.

So, if it was Liverpool or Arsenal you would probably be more concerned, but City you know they have what it takes.

Image source, Getty Images

Just to put this debate into context.

Manchester City have lost their last three games:

• 5 Nov - 4-1 at Sporting in the Champions League
• 2 Nov - 2-1 at Bournemouth in the Premier League
• 30 Oct - 2-1 at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup last-16

But as City captain Bernardo Silva said, they are currently sixth in the Champions League table - well in the mix for an automatic route into the last 16 of Europe's top-flight competition - and are second in the Premier League, just two points behind leaders Liverpool after 10 games.

So is it a case of 'crisis? what crisis?', or should Silva, his team-mates and manager Pep Guardiola be concerned?

Andros Townsend thinks not...

Stephen Warnock
Former Liverpool defender on Football Daily podcast

It's huge. It is one that sends shockwaves through Europe because everyone will be looking at that result after the last two results that Manchester City have had and they will all be thinking the same thing, 'what is going on?'

Why is it going so wrong? Is it just the fact that Manchester City have lost Rodri? Are there more problems? Are the players fatigued, that they are struggling without Rodri in the team? There could be a number of factors but for a club of Manchester City's quality and depth of squad, they should be able to deal with this situation.

Teams seem to be running over the top of them at the moment. The game against Bournemouth, they got outmuscled. They got outworked, there was more quality from Bournemouth which you do not often say about a Manchester City team.

Manchester City must now look to bounce back after their worst sequence of results since 2018.

The 4-1 Champions League defeat by Sporting in Lisbon was City’s third loss in a row.

As mentioned, skipper Bernardo Silva said the club is currently in a "dark place" so what is going wrong for the Premier League champions? Can their form be blamed on injuries? What needs to change?

We want to hear your views, along with reaction to big wins for Liverpool and Celtic, plus any thoughts from around the football world.

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