SWEET SPOT FOR PEP
De Bruyne penalty puts the seal on Guardiola’s tactical masterclass to sink Madrid
FINALLY, Manchester City have found someone who can take a penalty. It’s Kevin de Bruyne, of course. Who else was it going to be? The Belgian succeeded where so many have failed for the club this season — and delivered a milestone victory for Pep Guardiola and UEFA’s antagonists to boot.
In doing so, he carried out the wishes of those who had travelled from Manchester to Spain for this. ‘F*** UEFA,’ they demanded and De Bruyne and City did.
Everyone knows the best way for them to do that this season. Win the trophy. A long way to go, obviously, but any team that can beat Real Madrid away are in with more than a puncher’s chance.
City have put down a marker. Not just the win, but two away goals, a successful and pragmatic gameplan and a return leg that will not feature Madrid captain Sergio Ramos — sent off for a professional foul on the edge of the area which prevented a third, with Gabriel Jesus speeding away.
This was a tactical triumph for Guardiola. City were superior to Real Madrid throughout and Zinedine Zidane’s team, out-thought, fell apart near the end. In eight minutes they lost the lead, conceded a penalty and Ramos was dismissed (inset, right).
It was a huge blow for the second leg when they will be chasing the game in front of a raucous crowd. The atmosphere when these teams meet again will be charged, to say the least.
You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone, as Joni sang, and Manchester City’s fans have decided they did quite like being in the Champions League after all, having been slung out of it.
They made their feelings known throughout and the players were with them all the way in that. Whatever inspired it, this was a brave victory, full of energy, determination and passion.
It was a win against the odds, too, given that City lost Aymeric Laporte in the first half and were again forced to draft in Fernandinho at the back.
Guardiola came with a game plan and this could have punched a hole in it. Instead, Fernandinho rose to the occasion, as did his team-mates, particularly De Bruyne, Jesus and Riyad Mahrez, who worked tirelessly in a forward line operating without a recognised No 9.
Madrid’s season is slowly unravelling. They have surrendered top spot in La Liga to Barcelona, the expensive recruitment of Eden Hazard has brought scant return and now this.
City were the better team and, once stung by going behind against the run of play, rallied magnificently. De Bruyne was the architect, as ever. He made the first and scored the second.
While Raheem Sterling is the name constantly linked with Real Madrid, it must be De Bruyne who City most fear losing.
With 12 minutes left, it was his brilliant cross that set up the equaliser, going past two defenders and striking a ball that picked out Jesus using ESP, given that he didn’t appear to look up. Jesus powered his header past Thibaut Courtois.
Madrid were reeling. Sterling, on as a substitute, went past Dani Carvajal, who panicked and brought him down. Penalty. A list of all the City players who have missed from the spot this season would take too long to detail, so let’s just say that, on recent form, it almost felt like 50-50 from the spot. Up stepped De Bruyne. His last penalty was five years ago against Everton and was saved.
Not this time. He sent Courtois the wrong way and City led.
It only remained for Jesus to break looking for a third for City’s night to be complete. Ramos made contact just outside the area, Jesus tumbled and the captain was gone.
Of course, if there is a warning for the second leg it is what can happen with even a moment’s loss of focus against Real Madrid.
Rodri was the main culprit for the home team’s goal, giving the ball away in a dangerous area. But Nicolas Otamendi did not help matters and then Kyle Walker missed his opportunity to shut down Vinicius Junior, when he broke with the ball.
Instead, the young man took it past him and squared for Isco who made no mistake, slotting it past Ederson as City despaired. Not least because they had done so well to that point.
The argument runs that, since leaving Barcelona and the knowledge he had the stronger team in just about every game, Guardiola has developed a tendency to overthink his biggest matches in Europe.
Maverick team selections, a focus on the opposition and how to counter them — it is a side of Guardiola we rarely saw at Nou Camp. And when the teamsheet dropped pre-match here, we thought we were seeing it again.
No Sterling, no Sergio Aguero but, most incredibly of all, no Fernandinho in the starting lineup. This was a City team set up to do a specific job, obviously, but why those three did not fit Guardiola’s grand plan, who knows?
Once the game started, the strategy hardly became clearer. Jesus was not the central striker but deployed wide on the left, frequently covering for Benjamin Mendy and tirelessly, too.
Bernardo Silva was often the furthest forward in a central role.
It is well known that Guardiola loves a midfielder, but here he played six of them in front of four defenders. Yet for long periods it worked like a charm. Not simply by creating good countering chances for Manchester City, but by limiting Real Madrid.
There were over 30 minutes gone before Zidane’s men created a decent opportunity — a header from Karim Benzema superbly saved by Ederson.
It was City who had the best chances — Jesus and De Bruyne close in the first half, Mahrez after the break. Ramos was also lucky not to turn one into his own net.
Aside from Laporte’s injury, the biggest negative for City came with the booking of Mendy for a foul on Luka Modric.
It will keep him out of the second leg and left him on tenterhooks. Yet City stuck to their plan.
Real Madrid were limited to only three shots in the first half — their poorest return in this competition at the Bernabeu since the visit of Galatasaray in November 2013.
Whatever the future holds for City in the Champions League, from the courts to the pitch they are going down fighting.