Did we really get it wrong?

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

One chance in the last 25 mins......Pellegrini OUT!

You're embarrassing yourself.

Of course I am fella.

Thank fuck That effort got saved or Pellegrini's plan to not try and score again would have been well and truly fucking ruined.

And just think what kind of negative headline the Daily Torygraph would have had fronting the sports section: Complete and Utter Farce - Pellegrini scores four when he only wanted to score three! Negredo benched for the Arsenal match for scoring the fourth that gets City top of the group!

 

[Anonymous]

Have you got a link to the bayerns players and coaching staff also not knowing?
I could be wrong but I'm sure it was mentioned on talksport yesterday that they were aware

This from one of our German friends in the match day thread:

Seems like not only some City players did not know all about the goal rules. Neuer told to the press that he was not sure everybody of the Bayern team knew that they were not allowed to get another goal. Müller thought he was in a false film as he wanted to do the corner tango already in minute 87 and wondered why at an own corner 2 minutes later some of the Bayern defenders were wandering into the City box... - and Kroos told that the ones who knew it tried to hold back the others.

 

[Cobwebcat]

So basic some Bayern players didn't know, large swathes of the media didn't know, City's bench seemingly didn't know.

Lets face it, it was anything but "basic stuff" unless you've got an unhealthy fascination with UEFA's archaic Champions League rules and regulations.

If aggregate scores are level, away goals come into play. There's nothing obscure about that and you don't need to have an "unhealthy fascination" with UEFA's CL rules. Crikey, you're such a fucking weapon at times ;)

Haha. I'm genuinely not trying to be a weapon, I just don't think there's much point in pitching up in this thread and being a patronising **** by saying "well I'm just surprised that everybody didn't know already how this works". As I say, if City's bench didn't know, if Bayern's players (at least some of them didn't know), large parts of the world's media didn't know, Blues at the ground didn't know - then I'm sticking with UEFA's CL rules are archaic and it's their fault.

Hell, blaming Platini should be our standard operating procedure for any problems we have in Europe! :)

Am I missing something? 2-4 has always beaten 1-3 and what every team had to do to qualify was in every paper the day of the match.

You can say its patronising all you want. I'd expect players and management to understand, its their job. OK i'm less bothered that some fans didn't know. The fact that you are listing other people who didn't know is a weak defence. My wife knew. I suspect the cat was aware had i asked her.

 

[Chippy_boy]

I have gone around in circles on this and finally I am back to where I started.

I have known since watching the European Cup Winners Cup back god knows when that if two teams beat each other by the same margin, the team scoring the most away goals goes through. It's basic, everyone knows it. Everyone understands "the importance of getting an away goal" when you visit a European team on the first leg. Even my Mum knows this.

My "wobble" came about when someone posted the rules, which seemed to indicate the above is not correct, and that the goal difference is the more important determining factor. But since this is clarified to mean the goal difference bewteen the teams concerned - which is the case of 3-1 vs 4-2 is the same - then obviously the away goals rule comes into play.

So we are back to square one. Away goals it is.

Now why am I posting this? Well if the rule has been this way for 30 years and even my Mum, who does not follow any football understands it, is it even *vaguely* conceivable that Manuel Pellegrini, a top, respected international manager with lots of CL experience, did not know that away goals would decide it?

No, that is not possible. He MUST have known 4-2 would do it. He might have had a brain fart in what he said in the interview - it's not his native language and people say all sorts of stuff that gets confused when interviewed. But he MUST have known 4-2 would have topped the group. He simply decided that it was more important to protect Silva, and to take the win and the confidence boost it would give. Rather than risk injuries, or drawing or losing. His call.

My mind is made up on this now. It was NOT a fuck up.

 

[blueinsa]

You're embarrassing yourself.

Of course I am fella.

Thank fuck That effort got saved or Pellegrini's plan to not try and score again would have been well and truly fucking ruined.

And just think what kind of negative headline the Daily Torygraph would have had fronting the sports section: Complete and Utter Farce - Pellegrini scores four when he only wanted to score three! Negredo benched for the Arsenal match for scoring the fourth that gets City top of the group!

Indeed. What gets me here is the complete fucking bollox and ridiculous assumption that we stopped playing and didn't try to score again because he apparently didn't know the rules but if he did, we would of course gone on to stick another past the best club side in the world away from home.

Fucking laughable noncense!

 

[Pigeonho]

This is how I see it;

Thread will be at the bottom of page 1 come tomorrow night, slowly dying a peaceful death. Then on Saturday one of the commentator's will say something like 'hope Pellegrini knows his maths for this game', and the thread will erupt with a huge mass of fury!

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

One chance in the last 25 mins......Pellegrini OUT!

You're embarrassing yourself.

I'd venture to suggest that you're the one who the cap fits on that score.

Did we misunderstand the rule about away goals? Yes it appears we did. That's regrettable but no one died because of it.

If we had understood it, was there any guarantee that we would have done what we needed to do to score the extra goal without Bayern replying? No there wasn't.

Was there a risk that by going all out for another goal we'd have jeopardised the advantage we held? Yes there was.

Before 7:45pm on Tuesday, would we have taken any sort of win? Damn right we would.

That's it.

 

[Cobwebcat]

You've got to be kidding me. It's not a complicated rule it's just away goals. It's not unhealthy to know something that could get your club millions of pounds more than if you didn't.

I just don't think Pelle thought about it as he didn't believe we would be in that position.

So why didn't Bayern's players know ?

Have you got a link to the bayerns players and coaching staff also not knowing?
I could be wrong but I'm sure it was mentioned on talksport yesterday that they were aware

Not that it makes any difference who knew or didn't besides us but just for the record....

Müller: No, I knew actually - that's why I went to hold the ball in the corner in the 87th minute.

 

[mancityvstoke]

We never win at home and we never win away ......


Hang on a MINUTE!!!!!

Let's fuck over them arsenal goons on Saturday lads!

 

[Innsbruckblue]

Exactly my opinion. Why risk throwing away a morale-boosting victory when we had already achieved qualification? We made a statement on Tuesday and the whole world knows what we are capable of. If anything, the other teams will fear being drawn against us.