QF 1st Leg Post Match Thread

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mikemcfc123 said:
How exactly did it pay off?
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we are still in the tie. We played a champions league quarter final missing KDB, Bernardo, Stones, and a left full back. Aguero(always takes time to come back) and Silva were massively out of form. And we are still in the tie.

Spurs do not know how to play any other way than with a high press. They will not come to the Etihad and sit back on a one nil lead. With our full team, at the Etihad, we score at will against that Spurs team.
 
A very tense night that ended badly for us after looking pretty solid for 80 minutes.
Like most i was concerned when the line ups came out, rarely do we go 'defensive', and the lack of Sane and The Prince was a bit baffling. Surely Pep had other reasons not to start them that we don't know about. However with Laporte, Otamendi and Delph all looking strong the only concern at the back was Walker and his determination to 'lose it' and get his marching orders.
Sergio cut a lonely figure up front and had no help at all from a very poor Mahrez, who's predictability was easy to defend against.
At half time they were there for the taking and i was hoping for a left field substitution, starting the 2nd half with Leroy and Kev but it would be another 40 minutes before they were unleashed. Too little to late.
An away goal would've been nice but at one nil the second leg, and qualification, is not unattainable.
 
Big Dave Watson said:
Afraid it looks like 2 penalty misses will fuck up our season plus the fact we never bought a proper left back in the summer.
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We can go back to the summer of poor recruitment, only Mahrez added and has he improved us, no not one iota. So we're basically playing with exactly the same squad as last season, but you have to keep strengthening to stay at the top. We're still three players short in this squad, a left back, defensive midfielder, and another striker. Hopefully we're a lot more proactive this summer, transfer ban permitting.
 
Esteban de la Sexface said:
we are still in the tie. We played a champions league quarter final missing KDB, Bernardo, Stones, and a left full back. Aguero(always takes time to come back) and Silva were massively out of form. And we are still in the tie.

Spurs do not know how to play any other way than with a high press. They will not come to the Etihad and sit back on a one nil lead. With our full team, at the Etihad, we score at will against that Spurs team.
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I agree we are far from out but I wouldn't exactly say a 1-0 defeat means the selection paid off tbh. Although we'd be having a different conversation if that penalty had gone in.
 
paulchapo said:
The thing is, do people believe we will keep a clean sheet in the return leg? If the answer is no, we have to score at least three goals or we are out. Tough task, as is winning 2-0.
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Yes I do think we’ll keep a clean sheet. I think we’ll outclass them at home.

As for last night, Pep is eyeing up the next few games. It’s an incredibly difficult draw, and the team selection last night reflected him rolling the dice with a weakened team. On reflection, I’m ok with that. Tottenham have got their one win. We’ll win the next two.
 
stonerblue said:
A very tense night that ended badly for us after looking pretty solid for 80 minutes.
Like most i was concerned when the line ups came out, rarely do we go 'defensive', and the lack of Sane and The Prince was a bit baffling. Surely Pep had other reasons not to start them that we don't know about. However with Laporte, Otamendi and Delph all looking strong the only concern at the back was Walker and his determination to 'lose it' and get his marching orders.
Sergio cut a lonely figure up front and had no help at all from a very poor Mahrez, who's predictability was easy to defend against.
At half time they were there for the taking and i was hoping for a left field substitution, starting the 2nd half with Leroy and Kev but it would be another 40 minutes before they were unleashed. Too little to late.
An away goal would've been nice but at one nil the second leg, and qualification, is not unattainable.
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What did you make of Spurs stadium? It sounded loud on the TV.
 
Esteban de la Sexface said:
What did you want him to do? Play KDB who is returning from injury? Bernardo was injured.
He was a little more pragmatic, i'm fine with it. He went to Anfield at the same stage last year without pragmatism and the tie was over after the first leg.
We are still very much in this tie.

This is top level stuff here mate, we can't just go and dictate games as we see fit. We are fighting for an unprecedented quadruple. Pep is trying to manage the squad as best he can. If we went gung-ho with full team last night, it effectively writes off the Palace game. We now have a number of fresh players to rotate in.

Pep took a gamble last night and it paid off.
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I'm also struggling to see how it paid off, going for a 0-0 at one of the supposed weakest sides left in the comp isn't good enough. We won't get away with the same team and tactics against Juve or Ajax if we get through.
 
we'l be OK chaps,,if we cant turn a 1-0 around and go through then we aint good enough to progress,thing is everyone on here knows full well we are capable of spanking them 4-0 on Wed and that's whats likely to happen
 
Fordyboy46 said:
We can go back to the summer of poor recruitment, only Mahrez added and has he improved us, no not one iota. So we're basically playing with exactly the same squad as last season, but you have to keep strengthening to stay at the top. We're still three players short in this squad, a left back, defensive midfielder, and another striker. Hopefully we're a lot more proactive this summer, transfer ban permitting.
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but that same squad is what 10 wins off a quadruple which is quite a remarkable thing on its own,not a lot broke and not a lot to fix realy
 
MaineDAWG2008 said:
And that me friends was perfect. NoNmajor injuries. Sergio got minutes. Otamendi got game time. Delp also. We are in for a performance against Palace. Aguero to start and score 2 goals. Gundogan on bench. KDB to start. Mendy also.
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I hope so cos we’ve been waiting a little while for a ‘proper’ City performance.
 
I don't think Pep did a whole lot wrong to be honest, regarding team selection and tactics. He had an eye on the Palace game, and the 2nd leg, and wanted to play his cards right with a view on those. Plus I don't think he wanted to make the same mistakes as were made against Liverpool last year, and went for a more pragmatic approach. I thought we were alright overall, but the penalty miss was costly, and a lapse at the back were decisive. If we got a draw, it would have been a decent away result.
 
Pell said:
I don't think Pep did a whole lot wrong to be honest, regarding team selection and tactics. He had an eye on the Palace game, and the 2nd leg, and wanted to play his cards right with a view on those. Plus I don't think he wanted to make the same mistakes as were made against Liverpool last year, and went for a more pragmatic approach. I thought we were alright overall, but the penalty miss was costly, and a lapse at the back were decisive. If we got a draw, it would have been a decent away result.
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If if if
And yet we are in a very similar position to last year.
 
Mon Autre said:
1-0 is a horrible scoreline to have to turn around at home in a second leg. Sure, on a good day we're capable of sticking 4 or 5 past spurs, but spurs aren't a shit team and we can't just assume we'll have it our own way. It's awful having to play out the last 10-15 mins if we only get 1-0 ahead. They nick one and you suddenly find yourself needing three. Unless we blow them out of the water in the first half it's going to be extremely nervy.
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Whilst I agree, is it not better to play a weaker side in the first leg and lose 1 nil (or nil nil which would have a fairer reflection of the game) than play a stronger side win 1 nil with possible injuries to key players before Sunday and the second leg?
 
Pep has come here to win the Champions League. It’s our main aim. All the other trophies are great, but the Champions League is mainly why SM is in charge of our club.
 
GaudinoMotors said:
If if if
And yet we are in a very similar position to last year.
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Yeah, it's a fine line between success and failure. I still fancy our chances though, 1-0 is not as severe as 3-0, where we up against it from the off, and just one away goal was always going to kill us.
 
Pell said:
I don't think Pep did a whole lot wrong to be honest, regarding team selection and tactics. He had an eye on the Palace game, and the 2nd leg, and wanted to play his cards right with a view on those. Plus I don't think he wanted to make the same mistakes as were made against Liverpool last year, and went for a more pragmatic approach. I thought we were alright overall, but the penalty miss was costly, and a lapse at the back were decisive. If we got a draw, it would have been a decent away result.
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We know what was in his mind. His past caught up with us, and we paid the price for him losing his nerve.

No manager is perfect. I just hope we get away with it.

I would be very very embarrassed if I were him next time I appeared in front of the press. In a Champions League tie when you are the favourites and clearly the better side, you exploit that and do not cower before the game. Bottled it Pep. Good job you have a lot of credit in the bank.
 
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