Manchester City’s Champions League campaign came to an abrupt end at the quarter-final stage last night after suffering a second defeat in six days at the hands of Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Jürgen Klopp and his merry men march on, and deservedly so, into the competitions semi-final stage.
Highlights
Blame game
Could one blame Pep for his gung-ho approach?
No, not at all. City were 3-0 down from the first leg…everyone knew we had to score three, without reply for the team to force the tie into extra-time.
Did Pep’s sending off effect the result / performance?
The players had been briefed, they knew what was required and so I have to say, no.
Could one blame the officials?
Chalking off a perfectly good goal didn’t help. In addition, several other weird and inept decisions from the Spanish officials made our exit even harder to swallow.
Could one blame Pep’s players?
I suppose so. Having said that, the lads put a shift in and deserved more from the tie.
Verdict
Three hectic and energy sapping back-to-back games in a short space of time has taken its toll, not only on the players but on us fans. I for one am mentally knackered / exhausted and need to recharge my batteries in preparation for Saturday’s Premier League fixture, away at Tottenham. Now, if I feel drained imagine how everyone at the club feels.
This season is not over just yet. We have six remaining Premier League fixtures and a mere five points required to lift the season’s second trophy.
Final word
It’s going to take me a while to get over last night’s hugely disappointing result.
Etihad Stadium
Champions League quarter-final second leg
11/04/2018 12:38 am
Attendance: 53461
Referee: Antonio Lahoz
Manchester City | Liverpool | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gabriel Jesus (2) | Mo Salah (56), Roberto Firmino (77) | ||||||
Ederson | Loris Karius | ||||||
Kyle Walker | Trent Alexander-Arnold | 81 | |||||
Nicolás Otamendi | Dejan Lovren | ||||||
Aymeric Laporte | Virgil van Dijk | ||||||
Fernandinho | Andrew Robertson | ||||||
Kevin De Bruyne | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | ||||||
David Silva | 66 | Georginio Wijnaldum | |||||
Raheem Sterling | James Milner | ||||||
Bernardo Silva | 74 | Mo Salah | 89 | ||||
Gabriel Jesus | Roberto Firmino | 81 | |||||
Leroy Sané | Sadio Mané | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
Claudio Bravo | Nathaniel Clyne | 81 | |||||
Vincent Kompany | Ragnar Klavan | 81 | |||||
IIkay Gündogan | 74 | Alberto Moreno | |||||
Sergio Agüero | 76 | Simon Mignolet | |||||
Fabian Delph | Danny Ings | 89 |
Game Statistics |
||
20 | Goal attempts | 5 |
3 | On Target | 3 |
9 | Corners | 2 |
5 | Fouls | 7 |
2 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
0 | Red Cards | 0 |
68 | % | 32 |