Sums it up for me, excellent post.I've run those final minutes of normal time over in my head a dozen times and I don't think there's anything specific to pin the blame on. It just happens sometimes. That's the Champions League, that's football.
As I've seen someone say on Twitter, "Sometimes you 93:20 another team, sometimes another team 93:20s you". As much as humans like to look for patterns in things and like to try and explain the unexplainable, there really is no way to answer all the questions that nights like tonight bring up.
As our old friend Bobby Manc used to say, "This is football". Nights like tonight are why we love football so much, as much as it hurts when you're on the receiving end of its ability to produce unrivalled drama. I just hope the lads can get themselves ready for Sunday, dust themselves down, and get back on with the title race.
But even if we falter from here and end up completely potless, City will still be here tomorrow and we'll still be a joy to watch. Going trophyless is below expectations but it's not a crisis. We went without a trophy in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and if we go without winning anything in 2022 then we'll be fine. We'll just pick it up and start again.
The answer is playing our academy players more. There was no reason why we couldn’t give them more games. If we intend to operate with just 17 senior outfield players then there’s simply no excuse for our aversion to using the kids. They should have played more earlier in the season so that our big hitters arrive to this point in better shape.We seem to have a big issue with player fitness in the latter stages of the season. It cost us last year and again this. If Walker, Stones and Dias has been on top form going into this game we would not have lost.
I'm not sure what the answer is but playing our strongest team in FA cup matches only to play a patched up team in the semi-final seems a bit daft.
Our youngsters have been a bit unlucky with injuries this year - Palmer and Delap could have made bigger contributions if not spending long periods crocked.
I do think we are maybe pinning too many hopes on signing Haaland - yes he looks a great player but cannot play every game and he might not come. I have hopes for Alvarez but maybe he will need time to settle and not offer much in the first half of the season.
Remember when we had Kun, Mario, Edin and Tevez - seems a long time ago!
Madrid made lots of comeback in both games. City on the other hand were only under pressure for a few minutes, but couldn't do anything of note.Madrid played well for four minutes of that and won it. Stupid game.
Yet they won tonight and didn't have a shot on target in 90 minutes.It's simple. This whole season has been based on not having an out and out striker. Just look at how many missed opportunities we have wasted because of poor finishing. Just imagine if we had an out and out striker. Just get Haaland, another midfielder to replace Fern and next season will look very simple.
I'm talking bigger picture than tonight. We have an excellent team and manager. We lost a tie that we should have won and that exposed our weaknesses but we have many more strengths than weaknesses. Let's hope the club addresses at least some of the weaknesses in the summer so that we are even stronger next season.What positives do u see ? Interested to know
i mean, it's kind of his job to know whether the players he puts in will do what he wants them to or not, ain't it? guy's lauded as a visionary and arguably the best in the world at his job, yet he's left there with his dick in his hand after the season's biggest game two years in a row. not the best outlook honestly.Pep did nothing wrong. He put the right players on to protect a lead and see out the game with minutes left
it’s not his fault that those players didn’t do the one thing that they were meant to do
As soon as it goes to extra time it’s over as they’ve got their tails up and we haven’t got a team on the pitch to win the game again
We didn't play well at allNot even angry about tonight , but i am absolutely deflated , how many times do we have to go through shite like this to win this hyped up glamour cup , we played so well four 90 minutes and we still get kicked in the balls.
You'll get the usuals banging on about relegation (but we were shit then) and intimating we're spolt. But feel the same. Thought we'd left this ineptitude behind - but it's never far away.Massively the better team first leg. Better team tonight without being at our best. Never felt so low - worse than the relegations.