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LONDON — Pep Guardiola enjoyed a dazzling start to his reign as Manchester City manager, so much so that after six successive Premier League wins some were suggesting the only real fight this season would be for runners-up spot.

A few weeks later his side are still top of the table but the early euphoria has been replaced by the cold chill of reality as the dark winter months loom.

First there was a 3-3 draw at Celtic in the Champions League and a few days later the wheels came off City's bandwagon when they were outplayed in a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

Last week's 1-1 home draw with Everton was then followed by a 4-0 hammering at Guardiola's old club Barcelona.

City's start to the season now looks slightly underwhelming, although Guardiola gave a passionate defence of his methods on Friday when it was suggested he may change tack.

They will seek to end a four-match winless run when they host Southampton on Sunday, but even if they lose Guardiola said he will not be adapting the philosophy that has served him so well throughout his career.

"I think about that," he told reporters. "But after that the solution is not better than I believe. So I cannot. Do you know why as well?

"Because in seven years I won 21 titles. I'm sorry, but I won 21 titles in seven years. So it's three titles per year, playing in that way."

Guardiola said expectations upon his arrival in English football had been too high.

"We won the first 10 games of the season and everyone said City will win four titles," said the Spaniard whose first eight Premier League games have returned an almost identical record to the first eight under Manuel Pellegrini last season — six wins and 19 goals scored.

"But if you believe I arrive here and in three months everything is going well and we are going to win in Camp Nou 4-0 and going to dominate against those guys, and Messi and Luis Suarez and Neymar are going to do nothing and Iniesta isn't going to play good - no way.

"I am good, but not enough. Last season Man City were the oldest team in the Premier League and that's why we tried to change a little bit for the future. We need to learn of course as quickly as possible."

Apart from the Tottenham defeat, Guardiola said he has been proud of his team, insisting the result at the Camp Nou could have been different had keeper Claudio Bravo not been sent off when the score was 1-0.

However, he said City must learn to be more clinical.

"The big teams are a like a machine; they don't fail," he said. "But we've only had three months together and you can't imagine how difficult it is to build something.

"I came here for three years. After three years in Barcelona and Bayern Munich it was much better than after three months. I need time to learn, especially the Premier League.

"On Saturday [Everton manager] Ronald Koeman said in his press conference he never saw a team play football like Manchester City. That is the best compliment I could ever receive."

AMMAN — The Children’s Race of the 8th Samsung Amman Marathon concluded on Friday with the participation of 2,700 children representing various schools in the Kingdom.

There where more than 500 children from the Junior Runners Programme participated in the Children’s Race for free, representing the various governorates where this programme is successfully being implemented. 

Lina Kurd, Run Jordan General Manager, told The Jordan Times that this programme is an excellent initiative.

“The programme is one of Run Jordan’s new activities that was established to improve the health of children by providing them the tools, motivation, and support to live happier, healthier lifestyles,” she said.

“It also promotes long-distance running at both private and government schools all through the Kingdom, a sport we saw that is very popular among students, that is why we believe that empowering boys and girls aged 6-12 to achieve things that they never thought possible is a great idea,” she added.

Each year there is an increasing in the number of children participating in the Samsung Amman Marathon Children’s Race, which is a healthy indication that we are facilitating a healthy change in our kids’ attitude towards sports in general and running in particular, Kurd said.

“This in turn will make our vision at Run Jordan a reality in creating a nation of healthy athletes who will bring glory to our Kingdom. We encourage families to join us and take advantage of this great opportunity to start a tradition of regular physical activity that is fun, exciting, rewarding and great for self-confidence,” she added.

Prizes were distributed to winners while all participants received medals for finishing the race.

HH Princess Dana Firas, deputised for HH Prince Firas Bin Raad, Run Jordan chairman.

AMMAN — The Jordan national football team is readying to play three friendlies as part of their training agenda for the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers. Jordan will host Iraq on November 6 before leaving to Tashkent to play Uzbekistan on November 10 and host the Lebanese team on the 15th hoping to come away with good results after the national football team dropped 18 places to 104th in the latest FIFA Rankings issued on the weekend.

It’s the lowest ranking in 2016 as Jordan also dropped out of the Asian top 10 which is lead by Iran in 27th place, followed Australia (40), South Korea (44), Uzbekistan (48), Japan (51), Saudi Arabia (54), the UAE (70), China (84), Qatar (91), Syria (96) and Kyrgyzstan (99). On the world stage, Argentina still lead the top 10 ahead of Germany, Brazil, Belgium, Columbia, Chile, France, Portugal, Uruguay and Spain.

AMMAN — The fifth round of the Speed Test Championship which was due to kick off on Friday has been postponed till further notice, according to a statement from Jordan Motorsport on Thursday.

The motorsport community was devastated by the sudden death of Jordan driver Ahmad Zidan, who succumbed to a heart attack. 

AMMAN — Japan will take on North Korea in the final of the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup at the Amman International Stadium at 8pm on Friday.

The final will be preceded by the 3rd and 4th place match between Venezuela and Spain at 5pm in the same venue.

Japan beat Spain 3-0 in their semifinal match, while North Korea trounced Venezuela by the same score to earn their place in the final.

North Korea’s Ri Hae-Yon got her fifth goal of the tournament. That put her level with Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos and Spain’s Lorena Navarro at the top of the tournament’s scoring charts and she will now have a chance to add to that tally in a final.

Titleholder Japan know that retaining the trophy is not a foregone conclusion. The Japan team already know from painful experience what it is like to lose a final against North Korea.

“They beat us in the Asian final [at last year’s AFC U-16 Women’s Championship] the last time we met, of course, but we’ve studied a lot and learned a lot since that defeat. We want to make sure that we’re the winners this time,” Japan coach Naoki Kusunose told Fifa.com. 

“The Koreans are a good side and their style isn’t easy to play against, but we’ve already faced some very good teams here — England, Spain, USA — and beaten them all. I have told the players to think positively, and I see in them a conviction that they are going to win,” he added.

North Korea defender Jon Yun-Sim and Co. therefore have every reason to fancy their chances when they get reacquainted with these familiar foes. Now all that remains to be seen is whether history will repeat itself and North Korea will return to the top of the world, or will Japan sink their chance.

While Spain have fallen short of the second place they achieved at Costa Rica 2014, Venezuela have already made sure of doing just as well as they did two years ago.

“We’re among the best four teams in the world,” Spain coach Maria Is told Fifa.com. “We’ve got one game left. It’s winner takes all, and we want to win so that the girls get properly rewarded for the work they’ve put in here.”

Having led his team to fourth in Costa Rica, the Venezuela coach is targeting going one better in Jordan and was adamant that there is plenty for his charges still to play for. 

“We haven’t hit our ceiling. We’ve got a game left and of course we can finish third,” Venezuela coach Kenneth Zseremeta told Fifa.com.

“We’ve got a score to settle,” he added.

Jordan was eliminated from the first round losing 5-0 to New Zealand, 4-1 to Mexico and 6-0 to Spain. Sarah Abu Sabbah made history by scoring Jordan’s only goal in the Kingdom’s inaugural appearance in the U-17 World Cup.

The biggest sporting event to be hosted in the Kingdom also marked the first time that a women’s tournament of this scale has been hosted in the Middle East region. It was Jordan’s first appearance at the U-17 Women’s World Cup and also its first appearance at any level at a FIFA World Cup.

PARIS — Gianluigi Buffon kept the shots out while Cristiano Ronaldo failed to put them in.

While Buffon starred in goal for Juventus, saving a penalty and making two remarkable saves in a 1-0 win at Lyon, it was a frustrating night for record-chasing Ronaldo in the Champions League.

The Real Madrid forward needed only two goals to become the first player to score 100 career goals in European club competitions. But he could not muster even one for the holders in a 5-1 rout of Polish strugglers Legia Warsaw — which had lost five of its past seven matches.

Madrid has scored 11 times in its past two games, but only one of those has been from the usually prolific Ronaldo. He has made an uncharacteristically quiet start to the season for Madrid with four goals in eight games so far — very low by his own lofty standards.

Madrid’s goals came from Wales forward Gareth Bale, an own-goal by Tomasz Jodlowiec, and further strikes by Marco Asensio, Lucas Vazquez and Alvaro Morata, sealing an emphatic victory in Group F.

Madrid is level on seven points with Borussia Dortmund, but the German side leads on goal difference after winning 2-1 at Sporting Lisbon.

Prolific striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — with his ninth goal in nine games — and Julian Weigl scored in the first half for Dortmund. Midfielder Bruno Cesar pulled one back midway through the second half after an indirect free kick was awarded near the penalty spot.

Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado scored the winner for Juventus in the 76th minute with a brilliant angled strike, keeping the Turin team top of Group H.

Group E

Tottenham striker Son Heung-min came back to his old club Bayer Leverkusen, but the German side did most of the attacking in a 0-0 draw that suited Monaco perfectly.

Monaco came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw at CSKA Moscow and tops Group E with five points, one point ahead of Tottenham and two clear of Leverkusen.

Although Tottenham had chances in the first half, with Dutch striker Vincent Janssen hitting the crossbar, Leverkusen dominated after the break.

Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris did brilliantly to scoop the ball away on the line after an effort by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez — with goal-line technology showing that it had not fully crossed the line.

So much for not celebrating against your former club.

CSKA Moscow striker Lacina Traore could barely contain his delight after scoring against Monaco — the club loaning him to CSKA — wheeling away in delight with his finger raised after pouncing from close range.

With just minutes remaining, however, midfielder Bernardo Silva darted in to score the equaliser.

Group G

Riyad Mahrez struck the close-range winner in a 1-0 victory against FC Copenhagen that kept Leicester well on track for the next round after three straight wins.

Leicester coach Claudio Ranieri’s tactic to keep Mahrez fresh just before Champions League games is proving decisive.

Mahrez was restored to the starting line-up after being rested on Saturday at Chelsea, only coming off the bench in the second half.

Prior to the previous Champions League game — a home win against Porto — he was substituted at half-time against Manchester United.

Five minutes before half-time, he acrobatically flicked in a header from fellow Algeria international Islam Slimani, after good work by striker Jamie Vardy.

Ranieri’s team, shock winners of the Premier League last season, needs one win from its final three games to make the knockout phase.

Leicester is five points clear of Copenhagen and FC Porto, which came from behind to beat Club Brugge 2-1 and condemn the Belgian side to a third successive loss.

Emerging striker Andre Silva, who has scored four times in the last two games for Portugal, settled the match with an injury-time penalty.

Forward Jelle Vossen put Brugge ahead, but Mexican defender Miguel Layun levelled with a long-range drive.

Group H

Ten-man Juventus won 1-0 away to Lyon thanks to some shot-stopping heroics from goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and a brilliant winner from Colombia midfielder Juan Cuadrado.

He scored in the 76th minute after cutting in down the right, beating full back Jeremy Morel and launching an unstoppable shot into the near top corner from the tightest of angles.

Prior to that, Lyon had threatened an upset.

But Buffon saved a 35th-minute penalty from Alexandre Lacazette and then denied Lyon twice in the second half with remarkable reflex saves, tipping over forward Nabil Fekir’s deflected shot when off balance and kicking away Corentin Tolisso’s point-blank header.

The win kept Juventus top of Group H with seven points and ahead of Europa League champion Sevilla on goal difference.

Sevilla won 1-0 at last-place Dinamo Zaghreb, with French midfielder Samir Nasri scoring from close range during the first half.

AMMAN — Three-time Olympic taekwondo star Nadin Dawani has been appointed to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athletes’ Commission by President Thomas Bach, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service. 

The 28-year old was Jordan’s chef de mission at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games this summer, and is one of only four new non-IOC member representatives to be chosen. 

“Following their candidature for the elections of the IOC Athletes’ Commission during the Olympic Games Rio 2016, and in consultation with the chair Angela Ruggiero, the four athletes have been appointed by the IOC president as members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission,” the IOC said in a statement. 

Indian badminton player Saina Nehwal, Argentina’s NBA basketball star Luis Scola and Egyptian modern pentathlete Aya Medany were the other three appointed in order to ensure a “balance between regions, gender and sports”. 

“I am extremely proud to have been asked to take on this important position and honoured that President Bach has put his faith in me,” said Dawani.

“The Athletes’ Commission has a central role to play in the development of sport across the world and I look forward to starting work with my fellow athletes to make a real difference.”

“I would particularly like to thank HRH Prince Feisal [JOC president] who has provided such strong support to me.”

Dawani is one of Jordan’s most decorated athletes having won taekwondo titles throughout her distinguished career that saw her compete at the Athens, Beijing and finally the London Olympics where she carried the Jordan flag.

She became the first Jordanian Taekwondo player to be named Asian Champion after winning the gold medal at the 2012 Asian Taekwondo Championships in Vietnam. 

Dawani has been invited to attend the next meeting of the commission scheduled for November 6.

There are now six non-IOC representatives on the panel alongside 14 full members.

MADRID — Andres Iniesta can see it already. The Manchester City team coming to the Camp Nou for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Barcelona has quickly been infused with Pep Guardiola’s playing style.

Iniesta identifies his former coach’s fingerprints at City, with the English club one of the toughest teams to beat in Europe.

“Guardiola’s teams are a reflection of what he wants and, despite the short period in which he has been in command, City already carries his identity, his ball-possession style,” said Iniesta, who played under Guardiola for four years. “Manchester City is a top candidate to win this tournament. It’s part of a very small group of clubs that can win it.”

It will be the second time Guardiola returns to the Camp Nou as a coach. The former Barcelona player was with Bayern Munich in a loss in the Champions League semifinals two seasons ago.

“City has improved its game a lot,” said Barcelona defender Javier Mascherano, another player coached by Guardiola, who won 14 titles while in charge of the Catalan club from 2008-2012.

“Never in my life am I going to change the way I play football,” Guardiola said. “I can make a lot of mistakes but my teams play the way they want.”

Here is a look at the groups playing Wednesday:

Group A

Given how poorly Paris Saint-Germain’s midfield played in the unimpressive 2-1 win against bottom-side Nancy in the French league on Saturday, coach Unai Emery will be desperate to have the experienced Thiago Motta back for the home game against Basel.

But Motta is struggling to shake off a muscle injury, meaning that PSG could be missing his snappy tackling, tactical discipline and astute passing against Basel — which has been consistently strong in midfield in recent years.

If Motta fails a fitness test, then Grzegorz Krychowiak is likely to start, although the Poland midfielder looked sluggish and off the pace against Nancy.

Arsenal, which leads the group with the same four points as PSG, hosts last-placed Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria.

Group B

UEFA says Napoli has a chance to become the first team in Champions League history to advance from its group after just three matches — if Napoli beats visiting Besiktas, and Dynamo Kiev draws with Benfica.

However, Napoli has lost consecutive Serie A matches for the first time under second-year coach Maurizio Sarri and has to overcome a lengthy injury lay-off for Arkadiusz Milik, the Poland forward who scored seven goals in his first eight matches with the southern club.

Manolo Gabbiadini, Milik’s replacement, did not impress in a 3-1 defeat to Roma at the weekend, which ended Napoli’s 22-match unbeaten streak at home.

Early advancement would provide a measure of revenge for Napoli after the club became the first team with 12 points to be eliminated from the current group-stage format in 2013-14.

While Napoli has a perfect six points and Besiktas two, Dynamo and Benfica have only one each.

Group C

Man City got off to a great start under Guardiola, winning 10 straight, but it’s enduring a three-game winless streak that has added some pressure on the newly signed coach.

“Of course, the confidence and mood is much better when you win,” Guardiola said after the team’s 1-1 draw with Everton, when Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero had spot kicks saved.

City has four points, two less than Barcelona, which won both of its games and is on a 12-match winning streak at home in the Champions League.

Luis Enrique’s Barcelona is unbeaten in 17 home games in the European competition.

In the other group match, Celtic hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach to try to improve on its four-game unbeaten run at home in Europe.

Group D

After a three-match winless run, Carlo Ancelotti’s methods are already being questioned.

The new Bayern coach was praised at the start of the season for his relaxed approach, after Guardiola’s more rigid, detail-driven style. Now, the feeling is that players may be losing their drive and determination under Ancelotti.

Club boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge felt obliged to slam the team’s “unacceptable” performance in a 2-2 draw with 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The media quickly suggested that some of Guardiola’s discipline might be in order.

Bayern, which will be without Franck Ribery when it hosts PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday, has won 13 consecutive home matches — a Champions League record. PSV, however, is undefeated in 22 away matches in all competitions.

The German side has three points, three less than group leader Atletico Madrid, which plays at Rostov.

MADRID — The goals keep coming for Cristiano Ronaldo, and they seem to be making Legia Warsaw a bit nervous.

The Portugal forward scored five goals with his national team during the break, and added another for Real Madrid in a Spanish league win over Real Betis.

The defending champions will next face Legia in the Champions League on Tuesday.

“Hey @Cristiano, congratulations on scoring another goal!” Legia wrote on Twitter last week. “Hope you’re now out of ammo for Legia next week.”

Ronaldo is two goals shy of becoming the first player to score 100 career goals in European club competitions.

Here is a look at the groups playing on Tuesday:

Group E

The match between Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham brings striker Son Heung-min back to the stadium that was his home from 2013-15, when the South Korean scored 29 goals in 87 appearances for Leverkusen.

Son was the Premier League’s player of the month for September and has four goals this season. He was nearly lured away by Wolfsburg before this season but has been excellent in England in the absence of injured striker Harry Kane.

The game is crucial for Leverkusen, which has only two points from two matches. The German side is unbeaten at home in Europe since November 2014, with four wins and four draws.

Tottenham has three points, one less than Monaco, which plays at CSKA Moscow. The Russian side is last with one point and has a poor home record in the competition, with one win in its last nine home matches.

Group F

Real Madrid could not have asked for a better opponent to try to keep its momentum in the Champions League.

After beating Real Betis 6-1 in the Spanish league to end a run of four consecutive draws, Madrid gets to face Legia Warsaw, which is desperately trying to turn its season around after a chaotic start.

The two teams meet again in Poland in November.

“We will go into the game strong,” Madrid midfielder Francisco “Isco” Alarcon said. “We know that these two games will have a big impact on our place at the top of our Champions League group.”

Legia, which on Friday lost for the eighth time in 13 games, has the second-worst defence in the Champions League with eight goals conceded in two games. It lost 6-0 at home to Borussia Dortmund in the Group F opener. The Polish club has already made a coaching change but it continues to struggle.

Madrid, which has won eight straight at home in the Champions League, is trying to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the new tournament format was created in 1992-93.

Borussia Dortmund, which is tied with Madrid at the top of the group with four points, plays at Sporting Lisbon, which is only one point behind the leaders.

Group G

With more losses after eight matches than all of last season, Leicester City is struggling to defend the Premier League title. The focus seems to be on Europe, with even Riyad Mahrez on the bench in Saturday’s loss to Chelsea.

“Last season we were not in this world, we were out of this world,” Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri said. “And now we come back into the world and we have to react.”

That reaction is in the Champions League, where Leicester is making the most of its debut. After winning their opening two matches, Leicester hosts FC Copenhagen on Tuesday. The other Group G game is a meeting of the two winless teams, with FC Porto hosting Club Brugge.

Group H

Paulo Dybala is finding his form at the right time for Juventus.

The Argentina forward had a great debut season at Juventus but struggled at the start of the current campaign.

However, after breaking his drought in Zaghreb, Dybala scored for the third straight match on Saturday, netting twice as Juventus rallied to beat Udinese 2-1.

“We’ll keep going without worrying about what the other sides are doing,” Dybala said. “We’re thinking only about ourselves.”

The Italian side leads the group, above Sevilla on goal difference and one point above Lyon, the team’s next opponent.

Sevilla visits Dinamo Zaghreb, which has zero points and also failed to score in its opening two matches.

AMMAN — Japan will take on North Korea in the final of the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup at the Amman International Stadium at 8pm on Friday.

The final will be preceded by the 3rd and 4th place match between Venezuela and Spain at the same venue.

Japan beat Spain 3-0 in their semifinal match, while North Korea trounced Venezuela 3-0 to earn their place in the final.

“The players were tense, though, and I have to focus on what we can do better in the final. At the moment, we don’t have any injured players but we will need to focus on making sure we recover well physically in the time we have,” North Korea’s coach Sin Jong-Bok told Fifa.com. 

North Korea’s Ri Hae-Yon got her fifth goal of the tournament. That put her level with Venezuela’s Deyna Castellanos and Spain’s Lorena Navarro at the top of the tournament’s scoring charts and she will now have a chance to add to that tally in a final.

The final and the 3rd and 4th place match will be played on Friday.

Jordan was eliminated from the first round losing 5-0 to New Zealand, 4-1 to Mexico and 6-0 to Spain. Sarah Abu Sabbah made history by scoring Jordan’s only goal in the Kingdom’s inaugural appearance in the U-17 World Cup.

The biggest sporting event to be hosted in the Kingdom also marked the first time that a women’s tournament of this scale has been hosted in the Middle East region. It was Jordan’s first appearance at the U-17 Women’s World Cup and also its first appearance at any level at a FIFA World Cup.