The blue moon seen around the UK on Friday night was supposed to herald a good omen for Manchester City fans.
“The famous terrace anthem ‘Blue Moon’ is one of the most well-known and well-sung in the footballing cosmos,” said an article on the club’s website.
But with a week to go until the start of the new Premier League season, the landscape has turned into a rather gloomy one for them following a 4-2 defeat against Bundesliga side Stuttgart.
Their pre-season campaign had taken them down under to Australia, where they beat Serie A club Roma on penalties, before shipping four goals against La Liga outfit Real Madrid.
On their way back to the UK they stopped off in Germany, and confidence was high going into their final friendly match against a team who finished one point above the relegation zone last season.
The starting line-up they fielded was a strong one too: Hart, Sagna, Kompany, Mangala, Kolarov, Evans, Nasri, Silva, Navas, Bony, Sterling.
But it soon turned into a nightmare showing, going 4-0 down after just 36 minutes on the clock, reports the BBC.
Things improved in the last 10 minutes of the match, when youngster Kelechi Iheanacho and striker Edin Dzeko pulled two goals back, but the damage was done in the opening period.
