Pellegrini must solve curious case of Man City

LONDON — Thanks to a shambolic display against CSKA Moscow, the Premier League champions are heading for an ignominiously early Champions League exit (yet again) and if they do not buck their ideas up, Man City’s pursuit of back-to-back titles will end prematurely too.

They may have beaten United in the Manchester derby last weekend, but there is not enough paper to cover all the cracks. Everyone at the Etihad knows something is amiss and even Manuel Pellegrini admitted he was perplexed by the inconsistencies.

Before things spiral out of control, the Chilean has to unearth some answers fast.

An untimely injury to playmaker David Silva has not been helpful. City’s machine never purrs in quite the same way without his luxurious oil smoothly knitting things together — but it is too easy to lay the blame solely at the sidelined Spaniard’s door.

Yaya Toure and Fernando need to inject more life into their performances, for starters. Blessed with formidable physiques, power and poise, they should be dominating opponents, but instead of playing like idols, they have looked plain idle instead. Half-asleep and lethargic, a firm prod from their manager is long overdue.

Too much reliance is being heaped on the shoulders of Sergio Aguero too. Bosnian Edin Dzeko has been miles off the pace in recent weeks, while Stevan Jovetic has struggled since making his return from injury. As it stands, if the Argentinian cannot win the match for them, no one will.

Fit-again Samir Nasri could be the person to provide the inspiration. The Frenchman is not in Silva’s league, but he is innovative and the kind of talent capable of lifting his side from their stupor with a single moment of brilliance. At Loftus Road tonight (tomorrow morning, Singapore time), how they could do with that.

For reasons unknown, City’s battery has just gone flat. It happens to all teams from time to time and, usually, just one spark can flick everything back into life. Boosted by the scares they gave Liverpool and Chelsea, QPR will not be at all afraid of tearing into the disillusioned champions on home turf. They will smell blood.

The bad news for them is that I expect a strong reaction from City. They cannot believe how shocking they were on Thursday and will be fired up to put matters right. Pellegrini’s men are down, but they are not out just yet. ADRIAN CLARKE