Man City mauling in Champions League sees ex-City ace immediately retire from football

Former Manchester City youngster Vladimir Weiss has quit football in the wake of Slovan Bratislava’s latest heavy defeat in the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola’s side eased to their first win of the season in the competition as they brushed the Slovakians aside 4-0. Early goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden put City in charge before Erling Haaland’s 42nd goal in 41 appearances in the competition, plus one from substitute James McAtee.

It was Slovan’s second successive Champions League drubbing following their 5-1 thrashing at Celtic, who were hammered 7-1 by Borussia Dortmund this week. And it was seemingly too much to take for veteran Vladimir Weiss, who was taken off by his manager father, also called Vladimir, after 63 minutes.

READ MORE: I loved my time at Man City despite Pep weight comments - but it was draining and I had to get out

READ MORE: Man City's £109m transfer decision finally paying off after landmark week

According to his dad and manager, Vladimir Jnr has officially quit the game, months before his intended retirement in the summer. Vladimir Snr revealed: “Vladimir will make his own announcement in the next few days. But yes, I believe that was his last game.

“I'm his father and manager and it's hard for me. Everything begins and ends at some point. It will also happen to me too.”

It isn’t the first sudden retirement of Vladimir Jnr’s career. He once quit international football in 2018 after being outraged at being an unused substitute in a Slovakia game. When a fellow sub was sent on instead, he stormed back to the dressing room.

He reversed his decision in 2022 and has 77 caps for his country. The winger’s senior club career began at City, where he made a smattering of first-team appearances, including scoring in a League Cup victory over Arsenal.

He had loan moves at Bolton, Rangers, where won the SPL title in 2010/11, and Espanyol before leaving City permanently in 2012. Following spells in Italy, Greece and Qatar, he joined hometown club Slovan in 2020.

Speaking about his time at City before the match, Vladimir Jnr said: "I have great memories of City, it was a dream come true in all aspects. I will be grateful all my life that I could grow up there. Leaving your family is difficult but it made me the way I am.

“It was an amazing achievement to break through to the first team at a young age with the players that were already in the squad. I’m always going to watch City, not just because it was my first club but because they play the best football in the world.”

Sign up to get even more from our Man City coverage

We want your views, Blues. You can become even more involved with our Man City coverage by signing up. This will unlock a whole host of things - including joining the comments and taking part in our special Q&As, where you can speak directly to our reporters about what’s happening at the Etihad Stadium this week and beyond.

Click here to get started.