Man City are imploding before our eyes. Can they do anything about it?

Real Madrid could've finished off Manchester City a lot earlier. Kylian Mbappe had five shots, and Federico Valverde fired three from the right-back position. Madrid ended up with 20 in all, the most City have allowed at the Etihad in nearly a decade. Mbappe's worst attempt - a shank of a volley from a set-piece situation - was the one that went in. There were near misses and blocked shots and, if you ever looked away, you'd wonder how City managed to gain a 2-1 lead in the first leg of their Champions League playoff.

Erling Haaland scored twice, including a well-struck penalty, to retake control of a game that was slipping away. City were doing to Madrid what the Spanish giants have done to so many other teams in this competition: winning without playing much.

But leads have often been City's heaviest burden this season - especially in the Champions League. They went Istanbul in a 3-3 draw with Feyenoord, lost 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain after building a 2-0 advantage, blew a two-goal cushion in a 2-2 draw with Brentford, dropped points to Everton after taking an early lead, and took a late one-two punch to the chin a 2-1 loss to Manchester United.

They ultimately fell 3-2 after conceding the winner in stoppage time, marking the fifth time they lost from a winning position. They lost five times with a lead in the previous four seasons combined.

City began to panic with minutes remaining Tuesday, showing the alarming lack of composure that's compromised their campaign. Madrid substitute Brahim Diaz had the ball in the back of the net seconds after Ederson played an errant pass. City were dazed and confused at 2-2 but could well have taken positives from a draw. They just had to see it out.

But they couldn't make the most of their second chance. John Stones was under absolutely no pressure but somehow undercooked his cross-field pass and watched as Jude Bellingham pounced. What followed appeared to be a temporary let-off - Bellingham should've drawn a foul from his resulting run - but instead prefaced what was to come. Mateo Kovacic couldn't deal with a simple long ball, Rico Lewis lost a duel, and Madrid bagged the winner.

The problem hasn't been tactical or technical or a matter of fatigue. These players haven't lost games because they can't sprint or win difficult individual battles or score in big moments. They can still do those things.

What's happening is purely human. We have never had more data to explain away every team's problems, and the temptation is to apply it to City's situation. Players must be running less. Their expected-goals ratio must be worse than previous seasons. The number of injuries must be a factor. More players must be in the red zone in terms of fitness.

But there doesn't have to be a mathematical or scientific explanation. It can simply come down to poor decision-making, a loss of confidence, and poor execution.

"We love football for its imprecision, its moments of genius and its mistakes, when the ball bounces badly and the left-back plays terribly because he's had a fight with his girlfriend before the game. And there's no equation that can explain that," World Cup winner Jorge Valdano wrote in The Guardian.

What's hard to understand is how exactly the four-time defending Premier League champions have lost so much of themselves in such a short period of time.

This team used to be so secure with the ball. Now no one seems to want it. It's a grenade bouncing around the field, blowing up what's left of their season. You could understand if Pep Guardiola was asking his players to take more risks and do things they had never done before. But that isn't happening here.

No specific tactic or strategy will get City out of this tailspin. They can repeat the same patterns that helped them win so many titles, and it won't help. That's probably what keeps Guardiola up at night - and probably what's keeping him here for another couple of years.

"I am not good enough to give the composure to the team to manage this situation," he said afterward.

Maybe, though, composure isn't his to give.