Pep Guardiola made wholescale changes to his starting XI at the Etihad against FC Basel last night by putting trust in some of the so-called fringe players.
Starting XI
How we`re lining up tonight!
City XI | Bravo, Danilo, Stones, Laporte, Zinchenko, Gündogan, Yaya Touré (C), Bernardo, Foden, Sané, Jesus
Subs | Ederson, Walker, Agüero, De Bruyne, Adarabioyo, Otamendi, Diaz#cityvfcb #mancity pic.twitter.com/IFkGrJkCeL
? Manchester City (@ManCity) March 7, 2018
Final result – Manchester City 1-2 FC Basel (5-2 on agg)
Our first home defeat since December 2016 but it’s not the end of the world
Look at it this way, we have lost 2 games in the Champions League, neither of which had that much importance, but it did show the frailties of players who were not match fit or those who were not on the same page as Pep.
We passed sideways and backwards almost all the night an example of when high up the field Zinchenko for some reason sent a 70 metre pass back to Bravo.
It goes to show, when you take out both playmakers Kevin and David and a leader at the back and put in two relative strangers and apart from Zinchenko, all the others defenders played against Wigan and they have not had enough time on the field to bond.
Yaya was ok in bursts, but the game was slow and frustrated Sane, whilst Foden was trying his best and then we had a cameo from Diaz, but the Commentator wanted to read more into this defeat which had 9 changes, but it was a chance for Pep to rest his star men and no harm done in the end.
Anyone who thinks this defeat was the start of a City collapse is either a rag or a person who does not take into account a weakened side.
What we found out was you cannot do wholesale changes and still expect the scintillating football we have come to expect as normal.
Courtesy of Buzz Lightyear.
The good, bad and the ugly (not necessarily in order)
Foden was great in the first half, but faded in the second.
Zinchenko had a stinker for the first twenty, but settled.
Yaya – goodbye, and thanks for the memories.
Diaz – I want to see more of this player.
Courtesy of Hominid
You can’t take the Champions League lightly
Take your finger off the pulse for one second and that’s it, you’re out.
Take Spurs for instance. They were one up and then look what happened.
⏰ RESULTS ⏰
Juventus & Manchester City reach the quarter-finals! 🎉🎉🎉
Which side will go further? 🤔#UCL pic.twitter.com/ZxaR1fFkKj
? UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 7, 2018
🏆 CONFIRMED quarter-finalists ✔️
Who has the best chance of going all the way?#UCL pic.twitter.com/DSROMHAVTV
? UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) March 7, 2018
Next week see’s the final games from the last 16 second leg ties.
Manchester United (0) v Seville (0)
Roma (1) v Shakhtar Donetsk (2)
Besiktas (0) v Bayern Munich (5)
Barcelona (1) v Chelsea (1)
Pep will undoubtedly field his strongest starting XI in the quarterfinals. Talking of which, who would you like.
Me, I’d take Seville, (should they beat United) any day of the week.