I watched the match on ITV, went from elation to frustration and despair and then to euphoria as the game reached its pulsating climax. Then I entered the realms of fury as I heard the crap fed us by the panel of blockheads paid royally by ITV and read the rubbish the BBC's experts served up.
I took issue with the cliche that City can't play in Europe, but the team and the fans might feel they deserve to be in the CL now. Need we remind these "experts" that we're in the CL because we are champions of England, for the second time in three seasons, but we get stuck in the group of death each year because UEFA don't deserve to run the competition. So we play Bayern in three seasons out of the last four and actually beat them in 3 of the 6 games. Has any other club recorded as many wins against them? And this at a time when they are supposed to be the best club side in the world!
Then the Trafford Appreciation Society explained how poor our performance was. Against ten men! And a Bayern weakened by injuries! We never looked like soring! They dominated possession! They looked better on the ball! We were outclassed! We're a one man team - without Aguero we'd win nothing! And he had to be helped by three very uncharacteristic mistakes from Bayern!
To me this appeared to have been adopted as the party line before the game began, and was to be maintained whatever the result. But it does ignore what actually happened. Yes we were against ten men, but that wasn't because Bayern had the terrible luck to suffer four injuries. It was because their CB decided the only way he could cope with Lampard's through ball to Sergio was to kick our lad's feet from under him as he prepared to shoot. No-one else took the decision, and no-one had any sympathy with Ya Ya or Ferna when they saw red. Bayern rightly had to pay the price. Bayern rocked for a time but reorganised and looked what they are - a very good team indeed. But to my mind they kept possession rather than dominated it and they didn't actually do much more - their aim was to frustrate City rather than create chances and I don't think they ever really succeeded.
Now, I accept that City didn't hammer away at the Munich goal for 90 minutes either, but games at this level are rarely like that and I would also point out that Bayern's goals were not the result of wonderfully inventive play but of two incredibly sloppy pieces of defensive play and one very fortunate shoulder from Levandowski. If City's goals were lucky because our goals came from mistakes, why is the same not true of Bayern? Why are all goals not lucky?! So Bayern tried to run the clock down by keeping possession (and obvious time wasting) and City plugged away. No we didn't create a hatful of chances, but that's because Bayern can defend - so well, in fact, that they have only conceded 3 goals in the Bundesliga so far this season, but Scholes and Chiles kept that quiet!
And then we did step up the pace! Jovetic has not received any credit for his part in the equalizer. It was a careless pass from Alonso, but Jovetic had clearly been watching his lap top in preparation for the game - he started his run for the interception before the pass was even likely. And Sergio did the rest! As he did 5 minutes later! But he forced Boateng into the error and once he'd got it there was only going to be one outcome.
Now, I accept that Bayern may well be the best club side in the world, but I have never thought Boateng and Dante are anywhere near being the best central defensive partnership in the world. And over 90 minutes I always fancied Sergio would come out well ahead, and so it proved. He is as good as anyone in the world and he exposed them three times to win the match - but that's why we bought him, that's why the Sheikh didn't go back for Lee Bradbury. The last time Bayern came unstuck in the CL was to a team featuring the two most expensive players in history, but no-one sneered that Madrid only won because they had Ronaldo and Bale in the team! And if the sneerers want to know where we'd be without Sergio, they can look at last season where we had to cope without him for half the PL season. He's in a class of his own, but City are NOT a one man band! And if Bayern were weakened we must point out that, not only could Ya Ya, Ferna, Silva, Dzeko and Kolorov not play, but Bayern could pick from a squad of 25 - we are allowed a squad of 21, "to ensure fair play"! If you were in City's squad and you were fit, you were either in the team or on the bench on Tuesday. And this was the team which not only beat Bayern Munich, but scored as many goals in 90 minutes as the Bundesliga have managed against Bayern in 15 games. Well, Mr Savage, are we really as embarrassing as that?!
