supercity88
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 9 Aug 2009
- Messages
- 13,862
That 4-0 win against Real Madrid is probably the greatest performance from an English side in Champions League or European Cup history - the first half is the best football ever played by an English side against anyone, anywhere, ever. I spent the game convinced Madrid were going to come back into it like they always do but they were utterly shellshocked. Were it not for Courtois that game would have ended up 7-0, 8-0. We totally destroyed them and I don't think there's any team in the entirety of football history who would have coped with us that night.
Considering we'd gone toe to toe with them before and results had been quite narrow between the sides and at any moment either team could create a goal, to absolutely dominate them the way we did is one of the greatest performances by any side ever I would argue. They weren't some shit from a lower league that had barely played together. This was the European champions coming to the Etihad having beaten us the season before and with a 1-1 draw from the first leg. They didn't touch the ball in our half for about 30 minutes such was our complete control. It was a tactical masterclass from Pep and a footballing lesson from our players.
There have been some big wins in the CL before between top teams but it was the manner of the win in terms of our utter control of the game. We were like a heavyweight boxer pinning them against the ropes and landing punch after punch and they had no answer. It wasn't picking them off or forcing an error it was sustained unrelenting pressure.