Pep not too worried after Swiss side surprises City
MANCHESTER — With its first home loss in 15 months, Manchester City ended up stumbling into the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Not that manager Pep Guardiola was particularly bothered after watching his charges drop a 2-1 decision to Swiss side Basel.
“This kind of position is not going to happen in the quarterfinals, where you have a 4-0 (lead) from the first leg,” Guardiola said. “When it’s scary to be (knocked) out, the rhythm will be completely different.”
Indeed, it was difficult to draw too many conclusions from what was only City’s fourth loss of the season in all competitions.
A 4-0 win in Switzerland in the first leg three weeks ago made qualification almost a formality for a team that is 16 points clear in the Premier League and one of the favorites to win the Champions League.
Making six changes from Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea, Guardiola fielded a virtual reserve side at Etihad Stadium and disrupted the fluency of the team’s passing and pressing game.
City took the lead in the eighth minute through Gabriel Jesus in his first start this year, but Mohamed Elyounoussi equalized in the 17th and Basel regularly broke through the home side’s midfield in the final hour.
Wingback Michael Lang earned Basel its latest victory over a Premier League giant by smashing a rising shot inside the near post through goalkeeper Claudio Bravo’s attempted save in the 71st.
“You will find in all the clubs in the world that when you make six changes, the team is not the same,” Guardiola said.
Still, City’s first home loss since a 3-1 setback to Chelsea in December 2016 came as a surprise. And it was something to savor for Basel, the Swiss champion that’s been a scourge of English powers with wins over Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham in European competition since 2011.
“We have a certain pride, and against a team that plays every three days and is beating everyone, it’s very special,” Basel coach Raphael Wicky said.
City advanced 5-2 on aggregate and became the second English team through to the quarterfinals, after Liverpool, which advanced on a 5-0 aggregate scoreline against Porto, from Tuesday.
Tottenham couldn’t make it three, though, losing 2-1 to Juventus at Wembley as the Italian side clinched a 4-3 aggregate victory.
Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala scored goals in the space of three minutes as Juventus came from behind following Son Heung-min’s opener.
Next week, Manchester United and Chelsea could make it four English teams in the last eight.
With qualification all but secured from the first leg, Guardiola played many of his fringe players — like 34-yearold Yaya Toure and a player half his age, English prodigy Phil Foden — and it showed at times.
According to soccer data supplier Opta, City completed 978 passes — the most recorded by a side in a Champions League match since Opta began compiling stats in 2003-04. But any of those passes lacked penetration.
“To just pass for itself is nothing,” Guardiola said. “The second half was really, really poor.”
Jesus worked hard in his first start since a serious knee injury sustained on Dec 31 but he was understandably rusty, with his touch letting him down on occasion.
The Brazil striker was in the right place at the right time for his goal, though, tapping in from close range at the far post from Bernardo Silva’s low, teasing cross. It was his first goal in his last 14 appearances.
It was from one of those regular breaks in behind veteran Toure that Basel scored its equalizer, with Blas Riveros’ cross deflecting off John Stones into the path of Elyounoussi, who drove home from 10 meters.