Many pundits consider Manchester City still the underdogs in their second leg, home game against PSG tonight. Do they have a chance?
If you’re having a déjà vu moment, as you innocuously scour the internet for pre-game Manchester City talk and hype, then I don’t blame you. Paris Saint-Germain are the favourites they say, are a better side all round we hear, City just don’t have what it takes they go at points to belabour. For websites short on staff hours they may as well just copy/paste or recycle the horribly lopsided opinions from be-suited has-beens and wannabe pundits, enamoured by the flashy PSG lineup, that were posted just before the first leg in Paris. After all, not much has changed.
Or has it? Honestly, one only needs to listen to the BBC in their recent interview with Jason Roberts and Matt Elliott on “Can City Reach Champions League Semi-Finals” to find the answer. Right from the first whistle it’s made clear that this is, less an examination of City’s chances of progressing and, more a 6 minute long diatribe against anyone and everyone associated with the club. How angry they seem that Manchester City alone fly the flag for England in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
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Sadly for all that disdain they fail to see the wood for the trees. The situation has changed. What? Manchester City? In the quarter finals of the Champions League? In real life and not in FIFA 16? You bet. Not only that, but they are in a reasonable position too. Certainly one that a majority of the so-called experts did not imagine they would be finding themselves in.
For the sky blues to go to Paris and come away with a tie and two crucial away goals, in a venerable fortress no less, is both a testament to their quality and evidence that PSG aren’t as infallible as many would paint them. On paper, PSG excel across the board. On the park, they got a dodgy penalty, scored from an offside position and were gifted a howler by Fernando. Otherwise we’d be looking at Manchester City 2, PSG and BBC 0. How lovely that would have been.
Alas it wasn’t to be. Instead we get to hear how they “rode their luck”, or “will be punished by Zlatan Ibrahimovic” and there’s a general lack of positivity going into the game. So eschewing that, let’s take a look at how City can make it through to the next round of the Champions League and stick two fingers up at the sceptical media at the same time: defence.
Yes, I know, it’s a touch obvious. We have two away goals, but they are only good in the event of a draw in which we concede less than two tonight. Keep it tight at the back and we can ride the storm, in theory at least. In practice that’s a huge ask for this Manchester City. Manuel Pellegrini is remiss to launch skipper Vincent Kompany back into the fray, again, before full fitness and that leaves us with the same headaches as we’ve been suffering since he got injured again.
With that, City will be looking to Mangala and Otamendi to take centre stage with an eye at all times on Ibrahimovic. We talked before the first leg about concern over how Mangala, in particular, would handle this challenge, you know, given he’s shown us nothing other than ineptitude since signing for north of £40 million. In the end, he took it reasonably well, for Mangala at least. Heck I even saw a few people make him man of the match, in all seriousness.
Regardless, it’s a dangerous game for Manchester City to invite PSG in, particularly with a notoriously shaky back four in play, but the situation may well be forced on them. PSG will come out all guns blazing, it is, after all, their game to lose. They are the favourites, they are the ones who need to score to win. If you’re feeling nervous right now you don’t even know half of how PSG and their legion feel.
With that in mind, I feel if City can keep it tight at the back they stand a good chance. I don’t like their back four, as it stands, but they can do a good job. Outside of Fernando’s sketchy control and lack of awareness last week, City didn’t look like they couldn’t handle PSG. Even Ibrahimovic was, by and large, kept on a short leash. If they can replicate that again tonight without the unfortunate mistakes, then they stand a good chance.
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All we can do is hope that Manchester City turn up and perform like they can. Whether you’re helping make the Etihad roar on the lads or following along at home, just remember regardless of the result that this is an incredible achievement for City that promises only to be the beginning. Oh, and, give the BBC a miss next time too.