It was the bare minimum we could have hoped for. I was hoping we'd sneak a goal from maybe a pen, or set-piece. Happy we are still well in the tie.Bale and Marcelo were excellent too I thought. Those three oozed class. Overall I thought the draw was the fair result and I'm genuinely shocked to see how many of our supporters think it was a poor result and that we've made it hard for ourselves in Spain. For me that was the BEST result we could've hoped for. Personally I think if we'd scored a goal Madrid would probably have gone up a level (felt they played within themselves) and got the away goal. As it stands now they have to come out at the Bernabeau which they'd do anyway, but it'll mean that we will have spaces on the break. Also think that Kun and KDB can't play much worse than they did last night (touch wood!).
Too many of our supporter base have been spoon fed a diet of flat-track bully or dross down the last 30-odd years.
This is the absolute pinnacle of the game. Say it slowly, we are playing Real Madrid in a European Cup semi-final and more than holding our own.
The first 35 minutes were a pleasure to watch, tactically, we were at a very high level, the press, the intensity. It made me proud to watch.
Obviously, those on the outside, couldn't give a toss if either side won by four clear goals, as long as they got their personal fix.
The two teams last night have a duty to themselves, only. That was the outcome of last night.
We were always going to have to score over there, even if we had won by a couple goals. Clean sheet was the fundamental upside.
Looked like he pulled his hammy. I didn't expect him to last that long either. Call me crazy but Bony should have replaced him .
I hope it's not too bad and fit for s. Hampton .
I thought they were a pair of whinging tw@ts if I'm honest, both of them wound me up with their constant moaning at the referee.
Our support never ceases to surprise me, just as we got back in the car there was an idiot on 5live saying that he'd prefer Pearce or Hughes as manager to Pellegrini (no seriously, he probably posts on here !).
Best result other than nicking a late winner :)
I thought they showed us a lot of respect, especially at the start, and I thought we caught them a little by surprise with our pressing game.
I hope not, especially Sergio. I think in KdB's case, he tried a lot of hollywood passes, but if one had come off, we might have been even happier, so I don't blame him for trying them.
[He shouldn't start as a number 10 as it's a position he's rarely played and now he's not got the pace he had he'd be nowhere near as effective as he can be deeper. He needs to play exactly the role he played against Sevilla away where he was alongside Dinho with Fernándo behind them. Yaya was fantastic that night. He was also the best player on the pitch in the Carling Cup final and again played deeper but pushed forward when he got the chance toThis is exactly it.
And I just wish the manager would have used this kind of thinking on many occasions this season rather than just trotting out the same ol formation. Seville was Pellegrini's best day ws manager imo & City's best performance in the Champs Lg & there was no.Silva, no Nasri, no Aguero, no DeBruyne. Bony played upfront.
All the stuff which is supposed to be responsible for our failure as a team, all the excuses all happening on the same day, yet we played like a proper top european team.
Proof that 'management' works.
If Pelle comes up with a plan like that & we still get stuffed then we have all done our best & just met a better team. But if we just cram Yaya into a 4222 & he stinks the place out, it's negligence imo.
It's also wrong to give Aguero 90 mins if he can't/won't challenge for the ball & to stick with a system if it's clearly not working.
If Pellegrini is willing to adapt, if necessary, I think we can do some damage in Spain.
Just pick a team & system to get a result.
Oh dear, look whose talking, the football genius who thinks Pellegrini is a good manager!
I suppose having one shot on target at home in a semi-final, is your idea of a great achievement?
Unlike you, I call as I see it, it was a poor performance, the team played with too much fear against a Madrid that was without one of their main goal threats. The injury to Silva and the resulting tactical changes clearly played a big part in our under-performance last night, but unlike the mass delusions I'm seeing on this forum, I don't think it was a good night at all, we needed to win that game to stand even the slightest chance of going through, a 0-0 draw will be more to Real Madrid's advantage (despite the threat of an away goal from us), because I can see them scoring 3-4 against us, which makes any threat of a single away goal from us, completely irrelevant.
Last night was a big missed opportunity to take a small lead to the next leg...
Unlike a lot on here, I'm not a delusional supporter.