with 12 matches to play.

"Of course it can happen, I assure you. Real Madrid, years ago, lost five games in a row and didn't win the league. So of course it can happen, no doubts about that," Guardiola said.

"The players know that. It's not necessary to say that to them. Of course it can happen – in football, in sports.

"Two years ago, never before, in the NBA finals one team recovered from 3-1 down. Cavaliers won against Golden State Warriors 4-3. They won three games in a row."

Collapse

City dropped just two points in their first 22 league matches this season, with that unbeaten sequence finally ended by a 4-3 defeat at Liverpool on January 14.

Despite the disappointment of losing to United, City have still only dropped 12 pointsall season, but Guardiola is remaining cautious.

"The pundits in November, they said it was already done – it was impossible that City, if they hadn't lost in six months, it's impossible for them to drop points," he said.

"But in one week we lost three games. That happened."

Real Madrid's collapse in 2004 is one of the most remarkable in Spanish football history.

A side containing Ronaldo, Raul, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham looked on course for a treble of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey going into March.

But after being beaten in the Copa del Rey final by Real Zaragoza, they lost seven of their final 10 league matches, and were eliminated from the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Monaco on the away