Now finally back in Deutschland as well. (Ever flown with these flybe-propeller planes - scared the shyt out of me at first sight ;-) )
The Game
Read in many papers the penalty shouldn't have been awarded, but I'm not so sure about it. Thought in the stadium, Trochowski's hand was a bit high, just saw the replay, maybe in 20% of all cases a penalty really. Oh well. Didn't like Hamburg's defensive efforts following the equalizer, but the ref didn't help, as his officiating was very "home-biased" in my eyes. The 2-1 was only a matter of time and so it happened. At that point I concentrated solely on support and prayed that we wouldnt concede another one. After the red card for Dunne (should have seen it earlier!), things calmed down. Well deserved win for City, obviously, at this stage we were the luckier side.
The Players
Liked Robinho (again), but also that Elano-fella - cant believe, he doesnt get more playing time?! We would take him on a 1-year loan ;-) On Hamburg's side gk Rost started a bit untypically nervous, but saved the next round in the end. Young defender Boateng played great all night, in this atmosphere in such an important game: hats off! Trochowski a shocker, but he must be overplayed by now.
The Atmosphere/Stadium
Nice arena, even though the walk from Piccadilly to the stadium was endless and only to be endured by stopping by some of those shady "off-license"-stores... Great sight, all the Citizens with bananas and other sexy plastic things! It was a new experience for me, that the away-fans were directly next to what seemed like quite an active singing area - made for some good banter throughout the match. (odd seeing some 12-year olds making Nazi-gestures! :-D). The atmosphere was cracking all night, and the great thing was, that the whole stadium was singing at times, not only certain sections. After the 2-1 fell, it was probably the loudest home-support I have witnessed apart from a certain game in Wembley in 96... So hats off to your support, everybody I spoke to was really impressed and loved the experience. - One negative though: why was the current score from Udinese-Bremen never shown on the video-screens? I guess you want to concentrate on your own game, but I think it's a service for all fans thats not too hard to come up with. (but you have scoring-updates during PL-matches, I reckon?)
Overall
Great trip, met lots of decent City fans all over Manchester, all very friendly, all up for a good pint. The banter during the game was also good fun. I will obviously continue to follow you guys' matches, hope you break into the top 4 at some point. I know many of you prefer Kompany to De Jong, but I can only say, look out for Nigel...
