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

What a great night. I hope the VAR haters have recognised the crucial correction of an horrendous refereeing mistake.
 
Warriors to a man last night. We started like we didn’t believe in ourselves again but settled once we got the goal. Like Pep says we need to play the game not the occasion from the start.

22 years ago (give or take) I was at Wembley singing stick your treble up your arse, with thousands of blues some sadly no longer with us. How times have changed and I wouldn’t swap a single moment of being a blue. So fucking proud today, like I was that day back in 1999
 
Cornish_Blue said:
I think we all forget that Zinch is a midfielder. He’s comfortable on the ball and a slick passer.
I am so glad he decided to stay and has developed his game. He’s going from strength to strength, HE knew he wanted to be here, his desire to improve his personal game for the better of the team oozes class.
He is stamping his mark on a LB position and as a utility midfielder.
You can see by his reaction at the final whistle just how much it means to him. The shadowing of Neymar to deny him a sniff, when many would have dived in was brilliant.
This Back 4 has the opportunity to deliver greatness on an unimaginable scale for CITY.

UTTERLY SUPERB.
Click to expand...
To a man we were brilliant, but immediately after the whistle was blown, I said Zinchenko was my MoTM. What an attitude! What a player he's becoming!

He came to us as a very promising youngster, but ultimately didn't quite hit the grade we were looking for. It was odds on from the beginning we'd sell or loan him out, but I recall an interview he gave saying he had self belief, a willingness to learn & improve, & the patience to wait for an opportunity to prove himself. He also said City was the only club he wanted to be at, & how determined he was to remain here.

I recall when he first played in place of an injured Mendy. He was OK, but City still needed a quality LB as back up for Mendy, not a makeshift young midfielder. He was a reasonable option in the main, but also a bit hit & miss with his performances & not the long term answer for our problem LB position. He'd be having a brilliant match, but a couple of serious lapses later he'd have our defence on the ropes. His lack of pace is also a major concern too.

However, the kid has stuck it out. He turned down an £18m move to Wolves, with a better chance of regular first team football for himself. He did this to follow through on his pledge to improve himself as a player, & to prove himself good enough to nail down a permanent squad position on merit.

He arrived here as an attacking, creative midfielder, but was seen more of a general CM baller. This issue for Zincheko's career is that City had many more better players than him in his preferred CM position. However, when the opportunity arose to take advantage & become our preferred ball playing LB, he's grabbed it with both hands.

I suppose a question mark will always remain that City need two dedicated, world class LB's to reflect our options on the right, not a converted midfielder, & an often injured LB who hasn't lived up to expectations. But Zinchenko keeps answering that question by slowly & steadily improving into a genuine LB option for us.

Perhaps that question mark can be the best thing all round for Zinchenko & City! It will keep him on his toes, always with something to prove & a position to protect. If I could bottle & sell a football players attitude, it would be Zinchenko's. He's an inspiration to all young aspiring footballers the world over. Never give up on your dreams, & have the fortitude & belief to keep fighting to achieve them.

He's hopefully got another 90+ minutes in him to make Manchester City history. Here's hoping Zinchenko can be a major part of that history..... :-)
 
Thank you Sheik Mansour, Khaldoon al Mubarak, Cheeky, Ferran and Pep.
To all the back room staff and every single one of our wonderful team thank you.
A massive shout out to Riyadh Mahrez and Zinky - you’ve had tough some times from us fans but boy did you deliver.
Seven straight CL wins and eleven wins to the final - no Other English club has achieved this.
PSG no shots on target.
Oh what a feeling :-)

Oh and fuck off you Rag and bin dipping fanny wipes.
 
What a crying shame one of the great nights was played without fans.

The commitment of the players was off the scale, every single one of them was magnificent. It is hard to single anyone out for praise at all, as they were all 10/10 for me. We were everything PSG were not, we had desire, we had togetherness, we had commitment, we had drive and we had belief.

PSG are a fabulous side with great players, yet we made them look like Port Vale. Gyeue said after being sent off in the first leg, "they are toying with us", last night PSG were our lego set and we built a big beautiful impenetrable castle.

I honestly never believed we would win last night, I was certain that good old City would let me down once again as we reverted to type and somehow contrive to fuck it up, when Mahrez scored the first, i thought you teasing fucker, why are you doing this to me. You are giving me hope and as we all know, its the hope that kills you.

What I didn't expect was the display from that point, defenders high fiving each other for getting in blocks, players literally putting everything on the line and in Ruben's case his head, my word what a signing he is. He leads the defence, he cajoles, he organises, he encourages and he gets the best out of the rest. Has Zincho ever had a better game in a Blue shirt, he looked a world class left back. Stones and Walker were magnificent. Eddy exuded confidence, he pass for the 1st, has to be one of the passes of the year. After that he could have got a deckchair out such was the solidity of our back four.

When we had the ball, we passed it beautifully, we moved PSG around and the way our players rotate positions is unreal to watch, every player always had options for a pass. The counter attack for our second was exhilarating, it was a goal of real beauty and it was fitting that Mahrez finished it, he was sublime over both legs. The lad has arrived now and he is magnificent. Foden was full of running, effort, inventiveness, a mini David Silva with a directness of a Peter Barnes. Kev exuded menace all night, he is truly one of our greats, I have never seen a footballer who makes a complicated game look so simple. PSG were terrified of him. Gundo and Bernardo harried, hassled, pressed superbly, then kept the ball and weaved triangles as PSG huffed and puffed as they chased the ball like deranged madmen.

The real star of the show though was the birthday boy, 36 years old and playing with the energy of a 16 year old. He was clever, he smiled at the referee, he led from the front and took the team with him. What a player he is. It was clever of Pep to pick him as PSG had targetted Rodri in the 1st leg, they never got near Fernandinho he was too good for them.

We are not really here.
 
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