Buzz Lightyear
Alert Team
Like most City fans, I think I`ll settle for 0-0 in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Semi Final. The fact that we can present ourselves at probably the most famous football stadium on the planet with more than a fighting chance of progressing to the final stage of the competition is surely one that City fans will relish, although I suspect it will be through a sever onset of nailbiting next Wednesday.
My team selection wasn`t far off with Pellegrini convinced that Kompany was fit enough to last the full 90 minutes and electing to leave Mangala sitting it out. I have to say it did cause me some concern, but at least not only was it pleasing to see the captain play a full role, but also for City to keep that welcome clean sheet.
With the Winker giving it the thumbs down as he emerged from the tunnel and with Benzema selected but not fully fit, Real only really had Bale as a goal threat. Everything else had to come from midfield with the likes of Kroos. Ahead of City`s back four, the selection was predictable with the Fernandos sitting in front of the defence, Navas, de Bruyne and Silva sitting behind Aguero.
City looked industrious in the first half without cutting a really clear chance, although if lady luck had chosen Aguero, the Blues might have been heading to the Spanish Capital with the lead. However as expected she smiled on Ramos, who seems to operate under a separate set of laws of association football.
As I mentioned in my pre-match article on Tuesday he is the prime purveyor of the dark arts of the game and is seemingly on a different side of the admonishment scale in terms of the sheer thuggery he brings to more or less each match. With Pepe having just been yellow carded for showing de Bruyne how it feels to meet a combined harvester on a dark night, in almost the next move for City, Ramos went straight over the top on Fernandinho planting his foot clearly on his ankle, right in front of the chicken-livered ref from Turkey. This was such an obvious non-attempt to play the ball and it was done simply because Ramos will have weighed up that the ref would not want to dish out 2 yellow cards in as many minutes before he weighed in Fernandinho.
Indeed when Pepe, too cut down Aguero later, he also could have been sent off by a referee who interpretation of the laws was lost somewhere in translation. You know the type - play on when there are 4 defenders waiting for you, bringing play back when the break is on.
To a man I think City in an excellent performance. There was a maturity about their playing without the ball and the shielding of the back four. There was 75 minutes of non-stop running by Navas, denying space and making angles, but there was also an injury for Silva, who had started the match in lively fashion but who was consigned to the recycle bin within half an hour, giving Iheanacho the chance to pit his wits against the seasoned campaigners in the Madrid rearguard.
Truth be told, it looked a bridge too fat for Kelechi at this stage of his career, but the green shoots were there and no doubt there is much more to come. It was a brave replacement by the Engineer. It was positive and showed that City meant business.
But the goal didn`t look as though it was going to arrive…and it didn`t.
In the second half Real upped the ante a bit and the Blues spent long times on the edge of their box, fighting to keep their goal intact. A free header for Ramos should have troubled the scorers but caused more problems on the seating deck and Pepe also could maybe have got on the scoresheet. How incredible that the chances fell to those that should have been showered and back in the dugout for their misdemeanours.
As always seems to be the case in Europe, Joe Hart made 2 astonishing saves to keep his side in the tie. His focus in these matches has been incredible and if anyone deserves a shot at the final then it must be Hart.
Bale, having got no change out of Clichy tried his luck with Sagna with the same result and then back with Clichy to come up empty again. At the other end, Aguero toiled under the provocation, cheating and awful tackling, if that`s what you can call it , from Pepe and Ramos. Even Marcelo got in on the act.
In the end I suspect both teams would have been happy without conceding a goal and 0-0 was probably a fair outcome. For City it means that if they can become the first visiting team to score at the Berbabeu in the UCL this season and they score first, they will present a challenge to their hosts.
For Madrid they will take comfort from the fact that after some stem cell treatment, their talisman and cheat-in chief Ronaldo will be back and maybe he will make the difference and influence the game in their favour.
City will be without Silva, or so it looks. I hear there is hope that Yaya will be able to play some part, although I wouldn`t be tempted to start with him. If we do our midfield effort will be short of pace and Kroos will rule the roost being granted space to make supporting runs with and without the ball.
The Pedmachine gave up predicting back in 2012 and City won the title. I`m still not in predicting mode. I want to see City give the same type of account of themselves as they did at home, work hard to keep a clean sheet and then have Aguero or de Bruyne pop up on the break and fire us to Milano.
I`m not sure though that we might have just witnessed our cup final. If Real score first at their ground I cannot see City coming from behind. If City score first, I can see Madrid coming from behind.
It for sure will be a nervy 90 minutes where the inclusives arbitrator will be trying hard to get a Madrid derby going on at the San Siro, and City may well have to work against the referee and the copious free kicks he will grant to Ronaldo.
We`ll have to wait and see. City must not however lose sight of the fact that they need to win at the weekend. With the FA cocking a deaf`un at the request to alter the weekend fixture to Saturday, City won`t have a great deal of recovery time before heading for Spain. No doubt he will make changes for the Southampton match, but I hope he parades a team capable of winning.
I see the Stretford got another helping hand from the FA this week. Not only have they deprived Vardy of playing in what could turn out to be Leicester`s golden moment, but effectively weakened their team for their visit to the Sold Trafford. Mario Balottelli once said "Why Always me?" the Pedmachine asks "Why always them?"
Let`s see what the weekend brings before we set our sight on the Estadio de Santiago Bernabeu.
Sue`s attention tonight switches from St George`s Hall to El Madrigal, when her team, Liverpool plunges into battle with the Yellow Submariners from Villarreal, where without half a team Klopp has to try to get his boys in a position to finish the tie off next week at Anfield. No doubt she will trooping around the house swearing at the telly or hiding in the bedroom away from it.
Pedmachine VMC Reporter of the Year
Read more: http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=565799#ixzz47C82wms4
My team selection wasn`t far off with Pellegrini convinced that Kompany was fit enough to last the full 90 minutes and electing to leave Mangala sitting it out. I have to say it did cause me some concern, but at least not only was it pleasing to see the captain play a full role, but also for City to keep that welcome clean sheet.
With the Winker giving it the thumbs down as he emerged from the tunnel and with Benzema selected but not fully fit, Real only really had Bale as a goal threat. Everything else had to come from midfield with the likes of Kroos. Ahead of City`s back four, the selection was predictable with the Fernandos sitting in front of the defence, Navas, de Bruyne and Silva sitting behind Aguero.
City looked industrious in the first half without cutting a really clear chance, although if lady luck had chosen Aguero, the Blues might have been heading to the Spanish Capital with the lead. However as expected she smiled on Ramos, who seems to operate under a separate set of laws of association football.
As I mentioned in my pre-match article on Tuesday he is the prime purveyor of the dark arts of the game and is seemingly on a different side of the admonishment scale in terms of the sheer thuggery he brings to more or less each match. With Pepe having just been yellow carded for showing de Bruyne how it feels to meet a combined harvester on a dark night, in almost the next move for City, Ramos went straight over the top on Fernandinho planting his foot clearly on his ankle, right in front of the chicken-livered ref from Turkey. This was such an obvious non-attempt to play the ball and it was done simply because Ramos will have weighed up that the ref would not want to dish out 2 yellow cards in as many minutes before he weighed in Fernandinho.
Indeed when Pepe, too cut down Aguero later, he also could have been sent off by a referee who interpretation of the laws was lost somewhere in translation. You know the type - play on when there are 4 defenders waiting for you, bringing play back when the break is on.
To a man I think City in an excellent performance. There was a maturity about their playing without the ball and the shielding of the back four. There was 75 minutes of non-stop running by Navas, denying space and making angles, but there was also an injury for Silva, who had started the match in lively fashion but who was consigned to the recycle bin within half an hour, giving Iheanacho the chance to pit his wits against the seasoned campaigners in the Madrid rearguard.
Truth be told, it looked a bridge too fat for Kelechi at this stage of his career, but the green shoots were there and no doubt there is much more to come. It was a brave replacement by the Engineer. It was positive and showed that City meant business.
But the goal didn`t look as though it was going to arrive…and it didn`t.
In the second half Real upped the ante a bit and the Blues spent long times on the edge of their box, fighting to keep their goal intact. A free header for Ramos should have troubled the scorers but caused more problems on the seating deck and Pepe also could maybe have got on the scoresheet. How incredible that the chances fell to those that should have been showered and back in the dugout for their misdemeanours.
As always seems to be the case in Europe, Joe Hart made 2 astonishing saves to keep his side in the tie. His focus in these matches has been incredible and if anyone deserves a shot at the final then it must be Hart.
Bale, having got no change out of Clichy tried his luck with Sagna with the same result and then back with Clichy to come up empty again. At the other end, Aguero toiled under the provocation, cheating and awful tackling, if that`s what you can call it , from Pepe and Ramos. Even Marcelo got in on the act.
In the end I suspect both teams would have been happy without conceding a goal and 0-0 was probably a fair outcome. For City it means that if they can become the first visiting team to score at the Berbabeu in the UCL this season and they score first, they will present a challenge to their hosts.
For Madrid they will take comfort from the fact that after some stem cell treatment, their talisman and cheat-in chief Ronaldo will be back and maybe he will make the difference and influence the game in their favour.
City will be without Silva, or so it looks. I hear there is hope that Yaya will be able to play some part, although I wouldn`t be tempted to start with him. If we do our midfield effort will be short of pace and Kroos will rule the roost being granted space to make supporting runs with and without the ball.
The Pedmachine gave up predicting back in 2012 and City won the title. I`m still not in predicting mode. I want to see City give the same type of account of themselves as they did at home, work hard to keep a clean sheet and then have Aguero or de Bruyne pop up on the break and fire us to Milano.
I`m not sure though that we might have just witnessed our cup final. If Real score first at their ground I cannot see City coming from behind. If City score first, I can see Madrid coming from behind.
It for sure will be a nervy 90 minutes where the inclusives arbitrator will be trying hard to get a Madrid derby going on at the San Siro, and City may well have to work against the referee and the copious free kicks he will grant to Ronaldo.
We`ll have to wait and see. City must not however lose sight of the fact that they need to win at the weekend. With the FA cocking a deaf`un at the request to alter the weekend fixture to Saturday, City won`t have a great deal of recovery time before heading for Spain. No doubt he will make changes for the Southampton match, but I hope he parades a team capable of winning.
I see the Stretford got another helping hand from the FA this week. Not only have they deprived Vardy of playing in what could turn out to be Leicester`s golden moment, but effectively weakened their team for their visit to the Sold Trafford. Mario Balottelli once said "Why Always me?" the Pedmachine asks "Why always them?"
Let`s see what the weekend brings before we set our sight on the Estadio de Santiago Bernabeu.
Sue`s attention tonight switches from St George`s Hall to El Madrigal, when her team, Liverpool plunges into battle with the Yellow Submariners from Villarreal, where without half a team Klopp has to try to get his boys in a position to finish the tie off next week at Anfield. No doubt she will trooping around the house swearing at the telly or hiding in the bedroom away from it.
Pedmachine VMC Reporter of the Year
Read more: http://www.manchestercity.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=565799#ixzz47C82wms4
