Premier League champs Manchester City destroyed in all-time upset as new Man U coach strikes blow

Manchester City were stunned 4-1 by Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday (AEDT) in one of the biggest boilovers in recent Champions League history.

City are one of the richest clubs in world football and have won the last four Premier League titles.

Pep Guardiola's star-studded squad also claimed the club's first ever Champions League title in 2023.

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But that now feels like ancient history after an extraordinary night at Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick for the Portugese club while Maximiliano Araujo found the back of the net.

Gyokeres, a Sweden international, is one of the hottest strikers in Europe at the moment and now has 21 goals in 17 games for Sporting this season.

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Sporting are coached by the highly rated Ruben Amorim - who has just accepted the Manchester United job vacated by the sacked Erik ten Hag.

Amorim's demolition job sets the stage for tasty matchups between the fierce Manchester rivals.

Ahead of his final home game in charge of Sporting after more than four years, the 39-year-old quipped that United fans "will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived" if he was able to lead Sporting to victory over City — one of the favourites for the European title.

While that might be too strong — after all, Ferguson is regarded as one of football's greatest managers after his trophy-laden spell at Old Trafford from 1986-2013 — United supporters might be thinking they finally have a coach who can bring the good times back to a club that has lost its way since Ferguson's departure more than a decade ago.

Sporting fans unfurled a huge banner ahead of kickoff bearing the message "Obrigado (thank you) Ruben Amorim," five days after he signed to become the new United manager.

He will take charge of United from Tuesday (AEDT), allowing him to complete his commitments with Sporting, which included the match against City and concludes with a trip to Braga on Sunday (AEDT).

"It was written, because the first half was very tough on us," Amorim said.

"We were very lucky, but then the second half we scored twice in the first minutes and the environment, everything, helped us. lt was an amazing night.

"He's (Guardiola) so much better than me at the moment but I believe a lot in my new club. We will start from a low level, and we will improve the team, the club."

It initially appeared it would be business as usual for City as Phil Foden scored the opening goal in just the fourth minute.

Megastar Erling Haaland had a chance to reduce the deficit to 3-2 in the 69th minute but his penalty cannoned off the crossbar.

Amorim was thrown in the air by Sporting's players after the game and walked around the field with the team in a farewell to fans.

"Of course we will miss him a lot, we have done amazing things together," Gyokeres said of Amorim, who has led Sporting to two Portuguese league titles in his four full seasons at the club.

"We have to look forward to the next challenge ahead of us, but first of all we have another game in Sunday."

Elsewhere, Liverpool outclassed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 as Luis Diaz scored a hat-trick.

Liverpool are top of the Champions League standings on 12 points and are the only team to have won all four of their games.

PSV Eindhoven also thrashed Girona 4-0 while Dinamo Zagreb dealt Slovan Bratislava its fourth straight defeat in the competition as the visitors came from behind to win 4-1.