Paris Saint-Germain (A) - CL SF | Post-Match Thread

I was half expecting a dour semi final with cancelling each other out, that would have led me to tidying up my spanner drawer. From the off it was clear that would need to wait, as important as it was. Le Francheez, obviously still smarting from Waterloo and English people communicating through shouting, were right at you. I don't think I was alone in thinking, fuck, here we go.

They created a couple of chances and looked dangerous every time they came forward. Their goal added to the mix and it was like watching Sean Connery lying on his Chicago apartment floor, all shot to fuck, as he challenged Pep, kneeling over him, with the immortal "What are you going to do now?"

Well, it might have been the wine, but I saw a steel that has been missing for you in previous CL crunch games. As that steel held, you started to show why you are rated and like those Scots regiments at Waterloo, began to take them on.

The feeling I had as half time approached was, you can fucking do this City. And do it you did. It was one of those games that for me at least, you showed you had the balls as well as the skill to win it. A truly fantastic result against a top side in their own midden. I would advocate no feelings of victory just yet. The battle is yet to be won, and like Waterloo, there are still many opportunities to lose it. I believe you can go and finish them off, but they will pose a threat and have nothing to lose, so will throw everything at you. I won't say you have done the hard bit, because that kind of thinking seldom ends well. I do believe you have them on the run, but if you hesitate, they can and probably will regroup and fuck you over.

Great game, great result, great performance, but nobody has been put to the sword yet. Good luck in the return.
 
supercity88 said:
Good post, but the Pep over-thinking comment isn't completely true. He always adapts if things aren't working. The Bayern game you mentioned for example he sacked off after 15mins and the game was still 0-0. They conceded three times in the last 13mins but were without Ribery and Robben.

I think he does show a little too much respect at times. Last night the same was true. We seemed to be under instruction to sit back and not over commit for fear of being caught on the break. But second half we went back to our usual gameplan and they couldn't get the ball in order to have a counter attack. They were blowing by the end and as a team there really is an issue with them. They're a bunch of petty school kids when things go wrong. We have to be wary of that.
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With respect, I'm still of the opinion he has a tendency to over think things in crucial CL matches. This was latently revealed when Pep recalled what Cruyff had told Barca players about treating big matches as friendlies, enjoying them & rising to the occasion. Previously we've seemed too pressured because of the; 'Pep was brought in to win the CL', 'After spending £1,000,000,000,000,000,000 on players, Pep STILL hasn't won a CL in 10 years.' Etc.... Even during a testing first half the skeleton of who we are was clearly evident, however after half time, we put flesh on our bones by compacting our play more & supporting each other, meaning no players were left isolated & outnumbered with no options to pass to.

Yes we were more conservative in the first half, but all it took was a reminder of what we do week in week out to turn our fortunes around in the second half, where previously Pep seems to have ripped up what has worked for us to spring a surprise which hasn't worked. There's a big difference between a tactical adjustment, & some of the wholesale tactical & personnel changes in crucial matches I've seen previously which have left me more than a little baffled.
 
After the match I was on the Player Performances threads and just reflected on how many amazing players we have. We've gone from thinking we were lacking a team "spine" quite recently (I remember some conversations on here at the start of the season) to one where we have world class players in almost every position.

Recently, we've had great performances from KDB, Foden, Mahrez, Bernardo, Walker, Stones, Diaz, Ederson, and v good ones, if a bit more erratically from Rodri, Zinchenko, Cancelo.

I wouldn't have thought, a year ago, that we could be in this position without Silva, and with less or no playing time for Dinho and Aguero.

I hesitate to say this because it might sound arrogant, but the team sheet currently has a real stature, like the great Barca, Chelsea, United, Real, Bayern teams did.
 
Our team can take so much from the second half display. There’s no need for us to be ‘shy’ anymore.
 
shemnel said:
20/21 CL:

P 11 W 10 D 1 L 0 ; GF 23 GA 4 ; 7 clean sheets. 10 goalscorers.
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As a coincidence, 19/20 CL Bayern won all 11 matches (QF and SF only 1-legged though)...

Those teams are riding their momentum, players feel they are unstoppable.

City is so difficult to beat right now. Esp our bounce-back stories vs Dortmund and now PSG are priceless. We are in the heads of our opponents: even if they are winning, we will get stronger until we win.

PSG didn't have much from open play and I think they don't really know how to beat us in the 2nd leg.
Last night we have shown them we are a mentally strong team - and they are not. They feel it.
 
mccity said:
They might be good but I don't think they'll be quite as good as they were in the 1st half last night. It's difficult to see how they could catch us out again tactically in that way.

Gueye will be a big miss. His defensive work played a big role in PSG's early pressure.
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hope so. Hard to change old long term worries :)
 
I was so glad to get to HT last night only 1-0 down. We struggled at times and hung on, poor goal to give away but generally our defending was pretty good. We gradually started to get some control late in that first half but I really thought we'd dropped a bollock when Phil missed that chance just before HT. Second half though....after that early scare from Mbappe's cross.... just wow! Don't know what Guardiola said at the break but it worked. Slice of luck with KDB's goal?....maybe, but it's a brilliant ball in and Stones is trying to get on the end of it, the keeper and defence shit themselves. Give credit to KDB....how do you defend that? Not the best free kick but we deserve some things to go our way....thought Mahrez was excellent.

Long, long way still to go. I can't get too carried away, PSG are still a dangerous team. Look at the Barca and Bayern scores. However, show the same application for 90 mins next Tuesday as we had in the second half last night and you can't really ask for more. Believe it. Go and finish it off.
 
Dribble said:
After ten minutes in the first half, we were understandably more conservative in our approach as PSG became more dominant & took the lead. Between 20-40 minutes we looked decidedly ragged with PSG pulling us all over the place. However, there's a few things you failed to point out.

When Mahrez & Foden were attacking, they were attacking in isolation, often surrounded by 2-3 PSG players & having little or no options for the pass. This is why most of our first half attacks were being blunted & easily snuffed out.

In the second half I immediately noticed a difference. When Mahrez received the ball, Silva closed in to support him, but crucially Walker overlapped which pushed Bakker back therefore creating space.

Whereas we were closing down individually in the first, in the second half we hunted PSG down in packs giving them little time on the ball, forcing them into errors. This seemed to unnerve them & it reminded us of what we do best most weeks.

Agreed, we didn't have an out & out striker to make the most of many 6 yard box opportunities, but I doubt we'd have made those opportunities unless we had the control we created for ourselves in the second half. It's a legitimate tactic, as we have Foden, Silva, Mahrez, KDB & Gundog who've proven they know where the back of the net is to compensate.

Another crucial observation & probably the most important thing effecting last night was Pep. In the past, he's been guilty (imho) of over-thinking crucial CL ties which have cost him at Bayern & City. Who can forget Bayern's disastrous man for man marking effort against Barca, or the weird formation City played at Klanfield with Gundog playing right wing?

Against PSG the whole world mostly guessed the line up beforehand, with only Zinchenko/Cancelo & Stones/Laporte being the only reasonable unknowns. After the half time team talk, we were reminded of who we were & what we do best, so therefore brilliantly executed it in the second half & PSG couldn't live with us. So much so they began to lose the plot because we were making them look so ordinary. Remember, they're NOT used to being played off the park like we did to them.

As I posted after the Carabao Cup, City are better than most of us fans (me included) give us credit for. Two weeks ago I watched a rerun of El Classico in Madrid 2011-2012 season. Barca were sporting Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez, Villa, Alves, Busquets, Puyol etc... The Barca team around this era were widely considered to be the finest footballing side in soccer history, & I could definitely see their DNA in the way today's City side play.

This is a big claim, but when we tick (notwithstanding Messi), today's best City side is every bit as good as that iconic Barca team, if not better. I saw more errant passes from Barca that match & less movement than we have. Many times I watch City & I'm perlexed as to what formation we're playing & which players are in what position. If I'm lost, just imagine what opposition players must be thinking/feeling? The crazy thing is that the City players all seem to know what they're doing regardless of who plays, so there's an order to what on the face of it seems very random.

Make no mistake, we thoroughly deserved last night's win. Yes the KDB goal was fortuitous & Mahrez admitted he was trying to curl the ball around the wall, but got it horribly wrong & still scored, but I believe you make your own luck, & we took full advantage of it.

It's only half time & PSG are more than capable of overturning the tie, however we're just as capable as tearing them a new arsehole too, so just as I thought last night, they've got as much to worry about as we have. It'll now come down to who can carry out their plan best next Tuesday & make the most of their luck.

Advantage City, but we'd be silly not to continue where we left off last night. Hopefully Pep has learned to continue with what has served us so well so far, & not to over think the return leg & present us with a surprise line up, formation & set of tactics which has cost us previously.
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Great post. However you make your own luck, if you dominate play and chances sooner or later a lucky break or two goes your way, we were due some.
 
I thought before a ball was kicked in both semi finals that the winner of the PSG and City tie would be favourites to win against either Real Madrid or Chelsea. I didn’t see anything to change my mind. If we get past PSG I’ll be all giddy with belief.
 
BillyShears said:
I think he needs to get a new schtick.

Anyway fucking unbelievable performance last night. This team have got balls of steel and the defenders won't get the credit this deserve. If you look at the teams who have created almost nothing against us this season that's a testament to their work. Especially considering how high the defensive line is with play with.

Dias was my MOTM but I'd be tempted to give it Zin for that 20 minute cameo.
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Yesterday convinced me that at our best, we are the best team left in the tournament; the only team in Europe that might be as good is Bayern. That doesn't mean we will win the UCL. We are the best team in England but lost a semi-final to Chelsea; albeit we certainly didn't field our best side but not sure Chelsea did either. Chelsea under Tuchel are becoming a very good team and have a talented squad. PSG will be very dangerous at the Etihad: they surely have the best front line in Europe; which just emphasises how well we defended in the second half yesterday and, even though they did have 9 shots in the first half, how many times was Eddie tested?
 
BamberBridgeBlue said:
I thought before a ball was kicked in both semi finals that the winner of the PSG and City tie would be favourites to win against either Real Madrid or Chelsea. I didn’t see anything to change my mind. If we get past PSG I’ll be all giddy with belief.
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I’d sooner face Real on so many levels but mainly because I think we’re better than them in every department. Not counting my chickens yet though, I think the semi is only marginally tipped in our favour
 
Gundog’s Gundog said:
I’d sooner face Real on so many levels but mainly because I think we’re better than them in every department. Not counting my chickens yet though, I think the semi is only marginally tipped in our favour
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It would be a more fun way to win as well wouldn't it? Taking down the 13 times champions, kings of the competitions, Tebas' favourite club, Pep's arch-rivals. The definition of the footballing establishment.

I wouldn't complain about beating Chelsea obviously, but Real Madrid would be sweeter.
 
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