Night of glory in Bernabeu lifts pressure on Guardiola
WITH a little over ten minutes to go, it seemed as though Manchester City may have been about to play their last game of Champions League football for two-and-a-half years.
It is quite possible that the Court of Arbitration for Sport may have something to say about that. In the hours before they kicked off here in Spain, City formally lodged their appeal against the two-year European ban imposed by UEFA 13 days ago. It feels like that particular story still has some way to run.
Nevertheless, Pep Guardiola now faces a defining period at the back end of his time at City, starting with next month’s second leg in Manchester.
And had it not been for Gabriel Jesus’ header in the 78th minute, he would have been staring at some fast-mounting odds. But football can turn quickly — and it turned like lightning here at the Bernabeu.
With this season’s Premier League already gone, City need to make an impression on the Champions League this season. Once Jesus had equalised a Real goal by Isco, it felt like a live challenge again. When Kevin De Bruyne scored a penalty five minutes later, it felt like City had a foot in the next round.
It was a superb late rally that says much for the character of this City team. This was a very big night for Guardiola and City. For an hour or more, it did not always feel like it.
The Catalan picked a strange team on his first visit to Madrid for half a decade. No Raheem Sterling, no Sergio Aguero and — perhaps most dangerous of all — no Fernandinho. The Brazilian was on within half an hour but that did not signal good news. It was as a defensive replacement for the injured Aymeric Laporte, City’s most talented but most luckless defender.
But, by the end of a poor game that only came alive in the final half an hour, Guardiola was celebrating an incredible win that may now bring his team’s season some momentum. His selection had constituted a gamble but it worked. He will take immense satisfaction from that. It was an unfamiliar City line-up and, for long periods, their football was unrecognisable.
This season may yet yield trophies for Guardiola and his players. On Sunday, they will contest the final of the Carabao Cup yet again and next week they are at Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. It is rare that City don’t win anything and we should not expect this season to buck that trend.
But it is here on the playing fields of Europe that City must make headway. It is the only thing — in terms of the football at least — that the modern City have to prove. And Guardiola hasn’t won it himself since 2011, so his European reputation needs a little polish, too.
Who ever thought we would say that about a man who once appeared to view the Champions League as a stage on which his burgeoning talent as a coach could annually be displayed?
City’s problems in Europe are hard to explain. Guardiola prefaced this game by suggesting his team have not always been as lucky as they might have been and there is something in that. Certainly they suffered a little against Liverpool two seasons ago. Equally, they have rarely looked convincing in Europe, too.
So this was an opportunity; a big game against a big team in a season when the Premier League cannot count as a distraction. Guardiola’s line-up felt strange, that’s for sure. It felt a little like the night Brendan Rodgers left Steven Gerrard out of the Liverpool team here six years ago, a case of a coach being a little too smart for his own good. For a while, City did not look comfortable. On a chilly evening in central Spain, neither side quickened the pulse. Real coach Zinedine Zidane had made an interesting decision of his own, leaving Germany midfielder Toni Kroos on the bench.
The Bernabeu felt flat. This great old stadium is undergoing the early stages of renovation and at times it was hard not to wish for the influence of some of the fabulous players of yore.
Real were unimpressive but, by the hour mark, they led and it felt appropriate that it was a mistake by City midfielder Rodri that gave the home team possession in the build-up to the goal. The Spaniard — once of Atletico Madrid — does not yet look the replacement for Fernandinho he is supposed to be.
It felt rough on City. They had improved in the second half and were in the ascendency when they fell behind. Real spurned chances to stretch the lead but City came storming back.
What a night in Europe, just when City needed it most.