QF 1st Leg Post Match Thread

[blue by birth]

My immediate reaction was this nob was wound up by Pochettino antics towards Delph.

Pity Delph didn't get as close to Son when he scored

 

[Sky Blue]

I did not mean that the intention was for him to lose but that this might've been the only one of the 3 he was going to play conservatively and risk a narrow loss. I am sure the intention was to win if not at least do no worse than a draw but as he says in the post match he was happy with the play of his team

I also wasn't aware Bernardo got injured before the match, was this common knowledge or a well kept secret? Very surprising, any talk of how long out? Either way this clearly impacted his team selection as well as thinking/planning ahead

For me, it would appear Pep played it conservatively with team selection due to the April fixtures and how tight the margins are. If you consider it objectively, this is the one match in April they could potentially afford to lose and not impact the League title chase or odds for Semifinal qualification with his strongest lineup for the return at home. Seems a calculated risk, maybe even a bit pragmatic for someone like Pep tbh but with all the injuries this season reasonable?

I'm not sure I agree with this approach, just that there is a logic to it. I think what I fail to understand however are the 89th min subs - make the subs but why wait that late? Surely at 75 minutes it still could've mitigated any fears he might've had for more injuries in key players like KDB & Leroy but that's the only oddity that lingers for me

Not easy to do but you have to give Spurs credit, they did well and both Son & Winks were brilliant. We'll have to see if Pep's roll of the dice pays off in the return but he sounded quite confident that was going to happen in the post match

Some of you might be licking your wounds at the moment but have confidence in Pep's plan

Winks brilliant, really ? I honestly didn't notice him at all.

 

[Mancity1980]

Need to score four at home to advance now, they could score 2 away.

We don’t need to score four to advance, two will be fine, we need to score 4 to be comfortable, or is that what you meant?

 

[richards30]

Slept on it before posting and have woken up just feeling really disappointed that pep didn’t trust the players and approach that has gotten us to where we are? Am sure Tottenham were boosted when they seen our team sheet! Also baffling why Leroy didn’t start over mahrez which I’m sure his lack of playing time will be holding up the new contract

 

[Sky Blue]

We don’t need to score four to advance, two will be fine, we need to score 4 to be comfortable, or is that what you meant?

We can win 1-0 and still go through.

 

[FCBarca]

Winks brilliant, really ? I honestly didn't notice him at all.

Sometimes not noticing a player means they are doing their job brilliantly. City had a lot of difficulty getting into the attacking third and Winks played a role in not allowing the space for any movement through the middle, just about everything came from the flanks.

The lack of fullback involvement, it's just really odd to see in a Guardiola coached side

 

[Sky Blue]

Sometimes not noticing a player means they are doing their job brilliantly.

Good spin on it I suppose. Would have to watch the game again but not really in the mood for that.

 

[Mancity1980]

We can win 1-0 and still go through.

Exactly, this result is not that bad a result. A two legged semi final against Juventus or a final against Barca (I think I have my draw possibilities right there) is a much tougher proposition than this second leg.

 

[blue by birth]

I expect us to beat spuds and go through next week..hope hopefully Bernie will be back and Eddie will be ok after that heavy landing last night.

 

[bluethai]

Pep's CL record away is not very good, this might got in to his head so reflected by game play with fear like this.

 

[Kokonut1307]

Not much difference between 1-0 and 0-0.

Spurs would still have to come to us to score, they aren't keeping a clean sheet.

There is a masive difference between the two considering at 0-0 any win makes you go through. Now we’re in a situation where we need a two goal margin to progress. I don’t see them not scoring on the counter considering Pep will have to throw the kitchen sink at them.

 

[robbieh]

Actually at 0-0 I thought that Pep's more cautious approach to an away leg in Europe was doing OK. At Bayern and City before he's messed up by being to gung ho.
However the selection was odd. Danilo? Was he injured? He's not been overworked but done well when required. Sane likewise is quite fresh.
Performance wise DS has been poor for a while. It's retrievable but the goal has given them hope.

 

[shemnel]

Don't agree at all that Spurs were the better team.

i'd say marginally, by a sliver. City had a really good long spell in the 2nd half as the better team but we didnt really test Lloris enough (penalty aside)

 

[thelongbowman]

Score the pen and Delph defending properly and this thread would only be 60 pages long. It was a good away performance in the Champions league and the result should not blur that.

We will be a different beast at home with a full house ( could do with a surge of ticket buying mind) and a poor spuds team without their talisman.

It is actually set up to be a brilliant European night. If you didn't know better its as if the management are making the Etihad a place of good memories and dreams.

I cant wait.

 

[willipp]

i'd say marginally, by a sliver. City had a really good long spell in the 2nd half as the better team but we didnt really test Lloris enough (penalty aside)

Id say Spurs played close to how well they can and we played well below what we can. That being said, there was very little between the teams last night which is one of the most disappointing things.

 

[Blu1]

Looking back on the game every player on that pitch last night for both teams was bang average. Not one player gets more than a 5/10.

Only difference is spurs tried to win it, our formation and team selection was let’s get a draw type attitude. Very odd from pep.

Kev & sane on at 65 mins we win that game. Kev created more in 3 mins than most of our players.

Our big problem is
Left back. Delph sadly not composed enough
Walker at times is a liability
Gundogan offers little & slow
Mahrez looks lost
Jesus loves to play offside
Hate to say this but David Silva has been poor for weeks

We need all players firing now as we get no second chances from this point.

Every game a cup final. it’s just worrying our last 2 games have been very poor with all players looking slow.
fatigue is creeping in unfortunately.

Pep and training team earn their coin now

 

[Franny's toilet roll]

Looking back on the game every player on that pitch last night for both teams was bang average. Not one player gets more than a 5/10.

Only difference is spurs tried to win it, our formation and team selection was let’s get a draw type attitude. Very odd from pep.

Kev & sane on at 65 mins we win that game. Kev created more in 3 mins than most of our players.

Our big problem is
Left back. Delph sadly not composed enough
Walker at times is a liability
Gundogan offers little & slow
Mahrez looks lost
Jesus loves to play offside
Hate to say this but David Silva has been poor for weeks

We need all players firing now as we get no second chances from this point.

Every game a cup final. it’s just worrying our last 2 games have been very poor with all players looking slow.
fatigue is creeping in unfortunately.

Pep and training team earn their coin now

Agree with this post. Said beforehand that the Korean would do us and in the end he did, but we had chances to score and didn't take them. My gut feeling is that we are going out . Pep seemed to think we had enough and it nearly worked but we got caught out last night

 

[Roachy]

Sometimes not noticing a player means they are doing their job brilliantly. City had a lot of difficulty getting into the attacking third and Winks played a role in not allowing the space for any movement through the middle, just about everything came from the flanks.

The lack of fullback involvement, it's just really odd to see in a Guardiola coached side

Yes, and this wasn't one of those occasions.

 

[Indaparkside]

Got back home at 3 am can’t understand the selection for a quarter final ?? The most disappointing thing is they were there for the taking last night an opportunity not taken. Oh well great following as usual!! Never slag the team so let’s move on it’s only half time,let’s finish the job at home.ctid

 

[cheshirecheese]

Shades of the Anfield away game for me, in terms of team selection and set up. Nullify the the home team which we did, for the most part, last night. Unfortunately with that set up/selection we look less threatening going forward. Just hope the missed penalties in both games don't come back to bight us.