Real Madrid 1 - Manchester City 0 Johnny On The Spot & Stats Link

Johnny Baguette

Johnny Baguette

Alert Team
Johnny On The Spot

#ABJECT The morning after the anticlimax the night before. Last night, towards the close of the VMC Match Day Forum Thread, flanked by distinctly underwhelmed Anderlecht and Barcelona supporters I commented that Manchester City's tepid exit from this season's Champions League constitutes one of the biggest missed opportunities in our clubs history. It's all that and more today as we begin to survey the type of wreckage that comes from putting all your eggs in one basket only for the bottom to fall right out of it...57 games into a campaign that has flattered to deceive on numerous occasions since a blistering 5 match opening sequence ran aground at the hands of Juventus and West Ham, we are not done yet and the importance of the imminent showdowns with Arsenal and Swansea cannot be over emphasised enough for the club's by now established standing. Note I omit the word 'elite' there...Manuel Pellegrini is clearly an intelligent and astute man but he has at no stage this season or on numerous occasions in the previous one, been able to consistently drill the urgency and intensity that is a pre-requisite for stellar status into the talented group of players he has at his disposal...City had effectively stifled Real Madrid again last night sufficiently enough to untrouble Joe Hart and found themselves with 20 minutes to go needing only one goal to reach a European Cup Final. One bloody goal. Bearing in mind that 6 of the starting XI were over 30 years old it is all the more incredulous that the team could not galvanise themselves to have a career defining proper go at illustrious opponents who quite frankly appeared to have run out of ideas for how to secure the tie themselves. But were we honestly surprised? We have witnessed this type of situation in many of this season's 15 defeats. An uncommunicative Blues side chose not to go out all guns blazing but simply allowed the contest to peter out...And there's the key to what we can already sum up as a season of what might and should have beens. A glaring lack of desire and motivation has seeped into the squad's mindset as league form has steadily regressed to the point whereby it is now threatening to completely undermine the progress (when committed) that has been made in Europe...There is still time to shake our heads clear and secure the top four finish which would at least give the uncompromising Pep Guardiola something to build upon, but based upon the evidence we have seen so far and the manner of our European exit, ourselves and a club which has become awash with a naiive and unfocused "we've arrived" culture should be braced for the worst...I will conclude by saying statistics are piling up that make for grim reading and constitute cause for great anxiety for a beleaguered City support so frustrated at seeing brilliant footballers throwing away a legacy and dynasty they should have built. I keep being told we have not beaten a top six Premier League side all season. That's not true. The one side we have beaten is ourselves.

Stats © 2016 Sky Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
 
Unfortunately it was our trio of world class players that didn't show up last night and ultimately that's what cost us.

Yaya and DeBruyne were negligent to their defensive responsibilities which meant the rest of them had to work their socks off to make up for it, this led to us being dead on our feet with twenty to go. You don't mind so much when your flair players are a bit negligent providing they do something going the other way when they get possession but they did feck all, DeBruyne in particular had a mare in this regard.

Now on to Aguero, I don't see the point of playing high balls into him and not at least have someone running in behind to try win the second ball, completely futile. He let his frustration on the back of this get the better of him and completely lost his discipline which led to him hampering our build up play come the last 20 by dropping so deep. He was used the ball poorly on the few occasions he did get it to feet.

The rest of them tried their best but when your match winners are having such an off day that effort is in vain.
 
Can anyone explain to me how Vazquez managed to stay on the pitch last night after that tackle on Sterling?
 
Bluedub - 5/5/2016 09:24

Can anyone explain to me how Vazquez managed to stay on the pitch last night after that tackle on Sterling?
Click to expand...

the ref wanted to get out of the stadium alive, he saw it, it should have been red but he bottled it.

 
Joe Hart says Real Madrid were lucky, but you make your own luck in this game. They cheated and they were fortunate when they stuck legs out the ball hit them, but we lost it at the Etihad by not taking the game to them as we should have done.
 
I see the media has stuck the boot in, I wonder if they will stick the boot in the peoples champions should they fail, which by the way I hope they win the comp as they represent a home team.
 
Abject just about sums it up. I think the most disappointing thing is that this wasn't a glorious failure, laying siege to the Real goal in an attempt to get that one goal we needed. It did indeed simply peter out, which is probably what our league campaign will now do despite seeming to have at last found some form in the past few weeks.

Some of these players won't be at the club next season - assuming other people can be found to pay their wages and it is to be hoped that those that come in, or are promoted from the Academy (yeah right...) have a more obvious hunger and never say die spirit than one or two of those playing for us at the moment.

As regards the media putting the boot in - I've not read anything yet and I've not heard F******** etc's comments, but comparisons between some of our performances and those of Leicester, a team that whether we like it or not did cost considerably less than ours to assemble, will no doubt show us in a poor light - and deserve to be made. Perhaps we need to look at the value of players rather their transfer valuation, almost as though we won't buy players under £25m because if they are that cheap then they can't possibly be any good.

But on the plus side, and all things considered a semi final place in the CL is a fabulous achievement - but makes the lukewarm way we bowed out just that little bit harder to take. Hopefully this won't affect the remaining two games of MP's reign, four points at least and preferably 6 a must - and will we see VK4 and Zab in sky blue again, assuming they don't move to Napoli or the Ricoh Arena...

 
In my opinion it petered out because the three obvious ones aside they ran their nuts off trying to contain Madrid and had nothing left in the tank in the final 20.

That said, we could've tried throwing a centre back up and launching balls into the box for the last 5 or so.
 
I suspect SA is carrying a knock from the first leg also, wouldn't be surprised if he missed Sunday, or has another bad one.

Hope Nasri is up for putting one over his old club, he could be the saving grace, because if we don't win that one I don't think we will make the CL next year.
 
Nasri has become pivotal for the double header of destiny.

He knows Pep has praised him in the past and knows he could have a role to play.

He is loathed in France but I love the fella. I love how feisty he is.

He was having it at Southampton, squaring up. We do not have that with this squad. City players should have gone mental when Sterling was scythed and again in that instant the majority showed no passion outside of Fernandinho.

I am not advocating surrounding refs but advocating not bowing down to bullies. Under Mancini we mixed it when required and gave it back through Barry and De Jong. We have become a soft touch.
 
I just watched the Liverpool semi final, and they did what we didn't they got at the opposition and made them angry and then the Spanish side lost it.

We should have done that, we were basically powder puffs, although to be fair Villareal is no Real madrid
 
Albeit against inferior opposition L'pools energy, pressing, playing long when needed, and getting the ball into the danger area quickly was to much for V'real. Will PG play that way ?
 
Last night, I thought MP, tactics was totally wrong, he sent the team out not to attack, and go for the penalties, which we have done that before and we got relegated, those are not the tactics of a man who says he goes to play attacking, attractive football, imo, he was scared of Madrid, and their stellar signings, why they wasn't that great, Modric was motm in both games imo, he had half the field to look up and decide 2 here and when he wanted to put the ball before and city player got near him, and that guy is in his 30s wasn't that what Yaya is supposed to do? Aguaro, KDB, had stinkers, but in their defence that had to go looking for the ball in our half and that is not what you want in your attacking threat!!!!
But we lost in 180 minutes of football to the most successful team in CL history, and they only scored 1 goal, so if that's a positive in take it, but I got the impressionif we scored they just needed to step up a gear and we would have buckled.... but it's only our 5th attempt, and the rags, Chelsea, Arsenal took 9 yrs before getting to a final or semi final,but I did this k we went out with a winner and that from my team is wrong I wanted blood sweat and tears last night, I got the tears but from the fans the coppers beat up, the team just melted.... and that is wrong.

we did it in 5, the rest took at least 8 or 9 so that's a positive, , but we need to be it next yr and now we are in 2 must win games in the EPL,.....CTID
 
Sky have put Ya Ya stats up not good
Should thank the big guy for all he has done for the Club but his heart and legs are not up to it
 
You must log in or register to reply here.