"Wants to hurt me"

Scratches on his nose and bald head: mystery surrounding Pep

Pep Guardiola's nervous tension literally left its mark.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Darren Staples, Instagram.com/fabriziorom, Twitter.com/Sportsweek)

He suddenly appeared at the press conference with scratches on his nose and bald head - what was wrong with Pep Guardiola? The nerve-wracking 3:3 defeat of his team Manchester City against Feyenoord in the Champions League had really taken its toll on the head coach.

"I want to hurt myself," Guardiola grinned. A journalist asked him at the press conference after the final whistle what all the scratches on his face were about. And Pep responded with gallows humor. And with a pained smile. But that couldn't hide the fact that it took some getting used to. His nose and partially bald head were affected. Several scratches adorned the Man City coach's face, which is actually quite presentable. And social media is faced with a veritable conundrum.

Shouting, lying down, kneeling
It is now quite common for the City head coach to be almost superhumanly involved with his team. YouTube and co. are full of Guardiolas shouting, jumping, gesticulating, lying down on the grass and kneeling. But for him to literally mutilate himself from all the excitement? The tension must be extremely high.

Sixth game without a win
Which is quite understandable. The 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in the Champions League phase on Tuesday evening was - across all competitions - the sixth game in a row without a win, after five defeats in a row previously. 

This time, however, it looked for a long time like the long-awaited escape. After a brace from Erling Haaland (44th/penalty, 53rd) and a goal from Ilkay Gündogan, everything seemed to be decided in Manchester. But Feyenoord fought their way back within 14 minutes. Dávid Hancko scored the much-acclaimed equalizer shortly before the end (89').

Erling Haaland scored twice and did not understand the wlet in the end.

(Bild: AFP/APA/Darren Staples)

This further exacerbated ManCity's crisis. Pep Guardiola's team had previously suffered five defeats in a row in competitive matches. The Cityzens are only 15th in the Premier League table.

Whether that means scratching themselves remains to be seen ...