Paris Saint-Germain (A) - CL SF | Post-Match Thread

[Bozzie]

Quick mention for the ref, had a shocker. The red card was blatant, but he got nearly everything else wrong.

His positional play at the centre of the PSG defence was so good it felt as though they'd gone down to 11 men when Gueye got sent off!

 

[SWPISHOME]

Also the same situation as Dortmund - 2-1 up after first leg. Both those ties we won both legs and we are more than capable of doing the same again.

Every big CL tie we have a spell of first half nerves and it has ended up costing us the game. We've had that spell and are still in control. That bodes extremely well. I think we have proved that we are a better team than PSG and that's the most important thing of all.

Spot on.
After the second half display last night I'm sure PSG will know they are going to be in for an incredibly tough night against a incredible team. We stamped our authority on the tie last night.
No need to panic next week, Go out and play the way we do and will be fine.

 

[Don Karleone]

Any alternative commentary ?

 

[IrishBlueSince92]

Also the same situation as Dortmund - 2-1 up after first leg. Both those ties we won both legs and we are more than capable of doing the same again.

Every big CL tie we have a spell of first half nerves and it has ended up costing us the game. We've had that spell and are still in control. That bodes extremely well. I think we have proved that we are a better team than PSG and that's the most important thing of all.

We should be rid of nerves next week you'd think, after how we dominated the second half. It was that good

 

[kaz7]

I think we were massively fortunate in this game, and we should be aware of this. Against Spurs we dominated the ball but scored through a set-piece. Today, again we dominated the ball for long periods in the 2nd half and were able to create some very fluid passages of play on the outside of their box, but rarely did we threaten their goal. There was one must score moment from a PSG error in the 1st half when Bernardo passed to Foden and he struck it too centrally.

PSG are in a way the counter-opposite to City. Their threat are their forwards in Mbappe and Neymar, whereas our offensive talent is that we have 5 fantastic midfielders in Foden, GUndogan, Bernardo, Mahrez and KDB but we are forever massed against their defence outside their penalty box free-wheeling forever. It is beautiful to watch when we have a lead but frustrating if we need a goal. Nothing came of all our midfield play at Wembley, and nothing came from it last night either. You could say the same about PSG too (took a corner).

Our free-kick was incredibly fortunate. Mahrez can try that a 100 times and will never be able to do that again. What was he trying to do? GO round it, go over it? poor execution that came off simply because he hit it hard and on target.

We got lucky. Same as Spurs did when they came to City in that Q/F. But you need luck.

I think we have make a virtue from a fundamental weakness in our side...the lack of a centre-forward. Our ability to control the ball prevents Mbappe and Neymars from hurting us because it means we dominate the ball but we don't carry the same lethal threat in the penalty area that PSG have.

When PSG have Neymar and Mbappe on the edge of our penalty area, then they have the capacity to shift the ball really quick and get a runner in on the end of a cross e.g., Mbappe to Veratti that he missed by inches. I don't see this City side carrying this kind of threat.

The ability though to suffocate a side by preventing them from building up play, and to monopolise the ball though are huge pluses.

If Foden and/other players develop the Neymar/Ronaldo/Lampard ability to carry a real goal threat without being an out and out centre-forward then this absence of a central stiker does not matter.

In the Summer we have a crucial decision to make. Do we continue as we are, or do we sacrifice a forward to carry more threat in the box but at the same time lose control over possession? How many times do Bernardo and Mahrez cut back inside and float lovely balls in but rarely do these crosses have much threat. Against Villa that's how Rodri scored (from a Bernardo ball).

The plus side is though that most games end up 30:70 possession for City and what can an opponen do with so little possession? PSG are very dangeorous because they are more clinical, or efficient with their 30% possession.

Bollocks

 

[Vic]

His positional play at the centre of the PSG defence was so good it felt as though they'd gone down to 11 men when Gueye got sent off!

He did more to get out of the way than PGMOL defenders.

 

[supercity88]

After ten minutes in the first half, we were understandably more conservative in our approach as PSG became more dominant & took the lead. Between 20-40 minutes we looked decidedly ragged with PSG pulling us all over the place. However, there's a few things you failed to point out.

When Mahrez & Foden were attacking, they were attacking in isolation, often surrounded by 2-3 PSG players & having little or no options for the pass. This is why most of our first half attacks were being blunted & easily snuffed out.

In the second half I immediately noticed a difference. When Mahrez received the ball, Silva closed in to support him, but crucially Walker overlapped which pushed Bakker back therefore creating space.

Whereas we were closing down individually in the first, in the second half we hunted PSG down in packs giving them little time on the ball, forcing them into errors. This seemed to unnerve them & it reminded us of what we do best most weeks.

Agreed, we didn't have an out & out striker to make the most of many 6 yard box opportunities, but I doubt we'd have made those opportunities unless we had the control we created for ourselves in the second half. It's a legitimate tactic, as we have Foden, Silva, Mahrez, KDB & Gundog who've proven they know where the back of the net is to compensate.

Another crucial observation & probably the most important thing effecting last night was Pep. In the past, he's been guilty (imho) of over-thinking crucial CL ties which have cost him at Bayern & City. Who can forget Bayern's disastrous man for man marking effort against Barca, or the weird formation City played at Klanfield with Gundog playing right wing?

Against PSG the whole world mostly guessed the line up beforehand, with only Zinchenko/Cancelo & Stones/Laporte being the only reasonable unknowns. After the half time team talk, we were reminded of who we were & what we do best, so therefore brilliantly executed it in the second half & PSG couldn't live with us. So much so they began to lose the plot because we were making them look so ordinary. Remember, they're NOT used to being played off the park like we did to them.

As I posted after the Carabao Cup, City are better than most of us fans (me included) give us credit for. Two weeks ago I watched a rerun of El Classico in Madrid 2011-2012 season. Barca were sporting Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Sanchez, Villa, Alves, Busquets, Puyol etc... The Barca team around this era were widely considered to be the finest footballing side in soccer history, & I could definitely see their DNA in the way today's City side play.

This is a big claim, but when we tick (notwithstanding Messi), today's best City side is every bit as good as that iconic Barca team, if not better. I saw more errant passes from Barca that match & less movement than we have. Many times I watch City & I'm perlexed as to what formation we're playing & which players are in what position. If I'm lost, just imagine what opposition players must be thinking/feeling? The crazy thing is that the City players all seem to know what they're doing regardless of who plays, so there's an order to what on the face of it seems very random.

Make no mistake, we thoroughly deserved last night's win. Yes the KDB goal was fortuitous & Mahrez admitted he was trying to curl the ball around the wall, but got it horribly wrong & still scored, but I believe you make your own luck, & we took full advantage of it.

It's only half time & PSG are more than capable of overturning the tie, however we're just as capable as tearing them a new arsehole too, so just as I thought last night, they've got as much to worry about as we have. It'll now come down to who can carry out their plan best next Tuesday & make the most of their luck.

Advantage City, but we'd be silly not to continue where we left off last night. Hopefully Pep has learned to continue with what has served us so well so far, & not to over think the return leg & present us with a surprise line up, formation & set of tactics which has cost us previously.

Good post, but the Pep over-thinking comment isn't completely true. He always adapts if things aren't working. The Bayern game you mentioned for example he sacked off after 15mins and the game was still 0-0. They conceded three times in the last 13mins but were without Ribery and Robben.

I think he does show a little too much respect at times. Last night the same was true. We seemed to be under instruction to sit back and not over commit for fear of being caught on the break. But second half we went back to our usual gameplan and they couldn't get the ball in order to have a counter attack. They were blowing by the end and as a team there really is an issue with them. They're a bunch of petty school kids when things go wrong. We have to be wary of that.

 

[cucumberman]

Eye of the needle by Mahrez. What was the odds of that? When all the planets aligned and all

 

[Didsbury Dave]

We should be rid of nerves next week you'd think, after how we dominated the second half. It was that good

At the risk of jumping the gun, I can't see nerves being a big factor if we get to the final either. PSG had the unknown and the fear factor. Both Chelsea and Real Madrid we know we are better than.

 

[kaz7]

Thanks