Fatigue, injuries. Fitness, age, & lack of confidence.
Compare & contrast with Madrid, their players are conditioned to believe they’re better than everyone else, the fans, management & players have an overwhelming air of arrogance & self belief, the players believe they will win, the fans believe they will win, & that acts like a feedback loop, both influencing each other, it’s like City’s “we fight ‘til the end” but on steroids! Stats & History just confirm it, how many times have goals been scored in big games in injury time? & how many times have Real done us over in injury time.
Obviously This arrogance & self belief can turn you into a bunch of total pricks , as shown by the Ballon D’Or pettiness.
But at its core Madrid just believe they’re going to do it, whereas City fans don’t, Cityitis is real, & it infects the players, small margins affect big games, if we’d beaten Madrid the 2 other recent times where we 100% were the better side, & not just the 4-0, I reckon that capitulation doesn’t happen.
Atmosphere plays massively into these tight games, & having Madrid fans & neutrals in the home seats doesn’t help, it’s time the owners faced up to the fact that the fans really are that important, & should slash ticket prices, & make sure City fans are integral to the club, not ramping up season ticket prices, especially when they admit it makes virtually no difference to revenue! So why do it!!