UCL – What We Learned – Manchester City 1 Paris Saint-Germain 0

UCL – What We Learned – Manchester City 1 Paris Saint-Germain 0

0
SHARE

Manchester City edged past Paris Saint-Germain over two legs to make it into their first ever Champions league semi-final.

Both teams enjoyed good starts to the game, testing both keepers early on. The Sky Blues should have taken the lead early when Kevin Trapp escaped with only a yellow card after bringing down Sergio Aguero in the penalty area, only for the otherwise reliable Argentine to put the resulting spot-kick wide of the target.

City continued to press as Kevin De Bruyne was pulling all the strings from the number 10 position. The Belgian was by far the best player on the pitch and his efforts paid off when he finished off a chance from the edge of the PSG penalty area with a fine curling finish into the bottom right corner to give the Sky Blues the lead.

With the aggregate score now 3-2 in City’s favour, the Parisians pushed forward and created a few chances of their own. Lucas Moura and Zlatan Ibrahimović even managed to get the ball in the back of the net on two separate occasions, only for the linesman to flag for offside both times. Time ran out for PSG and all their efforts were to no avail as the referee blew the final whistle to ensure the Citizens a spot in the Champions league semi-final.


POPULAR ARTICLES

EPL – Outside90’s Team of the Week – Matchday 33

Is Spain’s La Liga the best football competition in the world?

Serie A – What We Learned – Matchday 32 [VIDEO]

UCL – What We Learned – Real Madrid 3 Wolfsburg 0


PSG stars did not turn up

PSG have often been claimed to be one of the best attacking teams across Europe, with the likes of Edinson Cavani, Angel Di Maria, Lucas Moura and Zlatan Ibrahimović amongst their ranks. They have scored an amazing 83 league goals in their 33 matches in Ligue 1 and have already won the league title in March itself. But they have failed to replicate a similar attacking threat in the Champions league and have been knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals for the fourth successive season.

Cavani and Di Maria both had dreadful games at the Etihad as they struggled on and off the ball, with the latter barely visible in the second half. Their performances outside France only go to show the vast differences in the quality of football. With all the financial backing imaginable, PSG still lack that extra bit of quality.

De Bruyne was top class

There is no doubting the impact that Kevin De Bruyne has had on the City side since his arrival at the Etihad. The Belgian’s importance in the side was further high lightened since his return from injury this month. The 24-year-old returned to action at the start of April and has since started thrice, scoring in all of them. He scored in both legs against PSG while also being the mastermind in almost all of City’s attacks. De Bruyne took up the position just behind Aguero, with David Silva moving out to the left wing and the PSG midfielders couldn’t keep up with the Belgian international as he continued to find pockets of space and find passes in behind the defenders.

Many questioned City’s willingness to shell out around 74 million Euros for the Belgian at the start of the season, but the midfielder’s impressive performances have put those doubts to rest. His vision, skill and sheer quality makes him one of the best attacking midfielders in the game today and his man of the match performances in both legs proves exactly that.

City enjoying a decent season

Even though the Sky Blues are currently in fourth position in the league with virtually no chance of winning it and are out of the FA Cup, the season has not gone all too badly for them. They have already won the league cup and are now the 10th English team to feature in the Champions league semi-finals.

Manuel Pellegrini might just end his stance as City boss with a Champions league medal when no one really ever gave them a chance of making it this far. It would be an outstanding feat for the Citizens if they do manage to win the competition but that is still a far shout right now.

They are slowly getting their players back from injury layoffs, with the likes of Samir Nasri, De Bruyne, Yaya Toure and Fabian Delph all making comebacks in recent weeks. Vincent Kompany and Raheem Sterling are not far away from returning to first-team action as well. There is not long to go now in the season and Pellegrini will be hopeful to end his tenure on a high note.

What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.