Pep Guardiola grimace: Are Manchester City about to replace a loser with a loser?

Pep Guardiola remains of a mind that he will leave Manual Neuer behind when he sips his final stein in Munich before departing for his new project in Manchester. “Manuel Neuer will be the goalkeeper at Bayern Munich for the next five, six, seven, eight or nine years,” said Guardiola in a press conference on Friday.

It would make sense for Neuer to say no to City. Unless he is seduced by a large weekly wedge from City’s Abu Dhabi Dirhams, why would Germany’s World Cup-winning goalkeeper trade in the Champions League for the Europa League? After slightly eccentric midweek goings on across Europe, there is every prospect Pep could be leading City against some of the continent’s flotsam and jetsam rather than the blue-chip concerns he envisaged when he accepted the chance to succeed Manuel Pellegrini as coach.

A 3-0 flogging by Liverpool on Wednesday leaves Pellegrini’s City placed perilously in fourth place with 10 games to run. Only one point above sixth-placed West Ham United, a team back on the rise, they share a total of 47 points with Manchester United having played one less fixture. Yet the Chilean coach is not in the business of trying to help Pep's future prosperity.

While City are in danger of finishing outside of the top four, Guardiola cannot concern himself with goings on surrounding his next place of employment. Not when all is not wunderbar in Bavaria. Guardiola’s pressing concern revolves around protecting his immaculate coaching record when Munich visit Dormund’s Signal Iduna Park, better known as the Westfalenstadion, on Saturday evening.

If Munich cannot stunt the growth of Borussia Dortmund, there is every chance Pep could wash up at the Etihad Stadium with a wounded CV, a figure remembered as the manager who failed to meet FC Hollywood’s base demand of dominating the Bundlesliga.

There would be a level of embarrassment attached to such happenings when Bayern, once proclaimed as a super club when usurping Dortmund in the 2013 Champions League final, revel in a wealth and fabulous level of player unavailable to any of Bayern’s main rivals in Germany, including a dynamic Dortmund despite their raucous fanbase.

Guardiola’s side are feeling the pinch after somehow malfunctioning in a 2-1 defeat to Mainz on Wednesday, a result that left Guardiola at a loss in his pursuit of perfection.

Munich are chasing a record fourth straight Bundesliga title and a third under the smooth Spanish coach in his three years at the Allianz Arena after Jupp Heynckes clean sweep three years ago, but Barcelona’s multiple Liga and Champions League-winning coach is aware of the threat Thomas Tuchel’s Dortmund pose in second place.

Having held an 11-point lead earlier in the season, they could see that advantage trimmed to two points with nine matches remaining if they go down in Dortmund.

"It's not over with this Dortmund team,” said Guardiola.

Dortmund were the last team to lift the German title under Jurgen Klopp in 2012, but that feels like decades ago. Bayern could throw in Mario Gotze after a five-month absence due to injury to support their offensive instincts, but Dormund can call on Roman Bürki after flu. Marco Reus, Lukasz Piszczek and Marcel Schmelzer should bolster Dortmund against a visiting side they were ravaged 5-1 by back in October.

You do wonder about the wisdom of announcing managerial changes mid-season. It feels like Manchester City and Munich have suffered in their respective leagues with players perhaps knowing they have nothing to prove to a bloke who will no longer be there in May. When motivation is lost, it is difficult to demand momentum.

Guardiola must cajole Munich into retrieving some of their form of yesteryear so he can bid the club a fond farewell. Anything less would be a notable stain on the Pep portfolio, a body of work built in Barcelona and buttressed by Bayern.

While Pellegrini will be embarrassed if he signs off at City outside of the top four, second place is nowhere in Germany if you are Munich.

You are only ever as good as your last result in football whether you speak German or English. 80,000 swooning supporters and millions of armchair fans in 208 countries will find out if Dortmund have the minerals to apply even more heat to a Munich team used to having it their own way.

Yet Guardiola must conclude stylishly at Bayern. Otherwise City will merely be replacing a loser with a loser.