Balancing risk and reward may be Manchester City’s biggest challenge | Jonathan Wilson

Marauding full-backs Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker give City great width but their forays could be exploited by Champions League sharks

The problem with excellence is how commonplace it can quickly come to feel. How long, you wonder, before the question becomes less whether Manchester City will retain the title, than whether they might this time be able to manage an unbeaten season, whether last season’s record of 100 points may be in jeopardy?

How long before it begins to seem that their season, as was true for Pep Guardiola’s entire reign at Bayern Munich and for much of it at Barcelona, will be defined by a couple of games in the knockout stages of the Champions League?

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