Basel brush off City to end the unbeaten run
MAN CITY’S unbeaten home run of 15 months came to an end as the favourites slunk into the last eight.
City had not lost at the Etihad since a 3-1 defeat by Chelsea in December 2016 but Pep Guardiola’s reshuffled side were unable to keep that proud run going.
Holding a commanding lead from the first leg the City boss admitted his starting XI were perhaps affected by their healthy advantage ahead of kick-off.
He said: “The first half was quite good but in the second half we forgot to attack, we forgot to play. When we pass the ball we do it to move through the opponents to attack but the second half was really poor.
“It is not easy to play with a 4-0 lead. We tried, we spoke about that and we showed in the first half that we wanted to win the game. We created a lot of chances and we were good.
“But after 1-1 in the second half, it didn’t happen. We just passed for the sake of passing and when that happens, that’s not football.”
Guardiola made wholesale changes to give many of his regulars the night off.
Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi and Ederson were on the bench as insurance, with Vincent Kompany and David Silva not included.
Their collective absence afforded City’s supporting cast the chance to shine but they didn’t, the reshuffle proving there is a dearth of quality lurking beneath the established order.
Guardiola made six changes from the side that beat Chelsea 1-0 with Claudio Bravo, Danilo, John Stones, Yaya Toure, Gabriel Jesus and Phil Foden coming into the side.
City made the perfect start, going ahead in eight minutes, Leroy Sane finding Bernardo Silva in space on the right. He spotted Jesus lurking at the far post and steered the ball into the path of the forward who tapped in to register his first goal since November.
The goal put City 5-0 up on aggregate but the hosts found themselves pegged back in the 17th minute after some lax defending.
Blas Riveros charged down the left, his cross coming off Stones to land at the feet of Mohamed Elyounoussi, who was afforded too much time and space to pick his spot and lash an assured finish beyond Bravo.
Despite dominating possession and creating chances, City were still vulnerable at the back and Basel seized their chance in 71 minutes, Michael Lang sending the ball inside Bravo’s near post.