This Is Why Man City FLOP In The Champions League…

Hello and welcome back to Total Football, where we bring together the best of the Champions League action, joining me tonight. We have Michael McCubbin for his and Mccabs viewing pleasure. We just witnessed Manchester City shoot what looked like a pretty solid zero. Advantage: they ended up drawing 1-1 in Leipzig. How do you think they will reflect on

this

game? Yes, it seems like a missed opportunity, doesn't it? Given how dominant they were in the first half, I think they did. Around 70 or 74 possession in that first half was completely dominant, but even then they weren't creating a ton of clear-cut chances.

There Mahrez's goal was brilliantly executed, of course, that sweeping finish and Gunduan really clever. I thought it was a bit silly. but he also put his heel through Vadio's legs, who I think was to blame for that, um, but I also mean he came from that Schlager mistake, right? That stray pass that Jack Grealish picked up should have gone to Lima, simple really. ball and that was City's only really clear opportunity in that first half. They were so meandering in the points, so I guess you have to give Leipzig credit for maintaining their form throughout the first half.

It was just that Schlager mistake that let them in, um, but yeah, it just wasn't, you know, it wasn't the cutting-edge

city

that we were used to seeing in the past. I know we've talked a lot about the cities, the sort of inconsistencies and problems in the final third in recent weeks and it seemed like Trend didn't do it early Holland didn't have their first touch of the game in the Box sorry, didn't have their first touch in the Box until in the 67th minute that opportunity was wasted. It's not the easiest thing, but still, I missed that opportunity, and that was his only effort in the entire game.

I think he only had six touches in the first half, so yeah, it felt like a familiar fight for them, you know? You had Jack Grealish doing tons of defensive work. You had Mahrez as the main source of inspiration. But other than that, yeah, there wasn't much to shout about, I don't think, and in the second half we were very lucky that Leipzig turned it on a little bit and really put that defensive line under pressure because they looked pretty comfortable defensively at least in the first half. half, and I wouldn't have been surprised if there were a lot of people at home. it had petered out at half time to be honest uh because it just didn't seem like it was going anywhere but yeah credit to Leipzig and Marco Rosa for making those changes by bringing on Henriks at half time which changed the game in many. ways um because otherwise yeah I think it could have ended up being one nil for City um but we have a game on our hands in the yeti if I was still hoping to win um but yeah I thought the second half was really interesting and What surprises me most is that Pep decided not to make any changes because, yes, it clearly wasn't working in multiple areas for me, yes, absolutely, especially with games coming thick and fast, plus they have Bournemouth

this

weekend and I have an FA Cup match next Tuesday and Arsenal fans will be absolutely delighted to have seen this game.

I think if they choose to tune into this game because City once again looked far from their fluid best, they will have less time to recover. before the Premier League resumes this weekend and there are huge problems, I think at City I don't think you can watch them this season and be 100% convinced that they are going to win a trophy this year, it just doesn't It doesn't seem like a guarantee . I think they have gotten considerably worse in all areas of the field. I think they can grant more high-quality opportunities. I don't think Edison is having a good campaign and they are still struggling to get Holland into the group. match without the presence of Kevin De Bruyne on the field and it seemed that both teams, especially in the first half, were missing their creative point, their best players and in the case of Leipzig, there are also Christopher and Kunker, who scored six goals more than anyone else in a Leipzig shirt I think the next best is Timoverna, who had a very quiet night, which will disappoint him against English opposition as he became a meme at times during his time at Chelsea, perhaps unfairly at times, but maybe he felt like Marco.

Rosa was too negative in that first half, maybe he received that rout that he received in the round of 16 with joy in his mind against Man City a few years ago, but in that second half he was much more fluid, you know, dominating the balls to send. I liked getting into good areas and they were worthy of a 1-1 draw. I thought, like you said, Henrik's Master had a good chance to work with a header and then shot wide in a great position too, so that was a little worrying from that perspective, um mccubs, come on.

Talk about some of the key players in this game, who would you pick from each side as having excelled in what was at times quite a challenging issue? Actually, yeah, I mean, I talked about Grealish and then I thought you know one of the hardest workers. on the pitch it's incredible to see the transformation of him at City into someone who really has action in both areas now um and I actually think he was unlucky because you know he's quite isolated on that left side. Akai never, yeah, doesn't overlap at all, you know, I think he was instructed not to do it essentially, whereas you know the right side with Walkerin and Mahrez was a lot more dynamic in that kind of stuff, you know, Walker was almost playing kind of like a hybrid winger, winger, um, so greetish I think he actually worked very, very hard and when he had the ball he tried to at least make things happen, but they weren't passing options for him.

I also have Bernardo Silva, obviously I will play a lot deeper this season. um and you know we would obviously love to see it later. I'd probably like to see him instead of weapons in that position 10 if I'm honest, um, but I think you know given what he was assigned to do. You know his numbers were great, he completed four dribbles. I think he only gave the ball away once in transition; otherwise he was very tidy and created two chances as well, so from a

city

perspective it wasn't for lack of hard work on that. In midfield, but no one could distinguish Holland.

I think Holland we also talk a lot about if he's making runs and nobody's picking him out, but at some points surely, if you're the carrier, you have to come in and maybe drop a little bit deeper and try to get the ball because it's not like Holland is bad on the ball as you can still link play, so I feel like that's where maybe they went a little wrong from Leipzig's perspective, although you know. Conrad Lima, who has been excellent for them when he's been fit in recent years, five tackles and interceptions in this game, was really key in stopping City and the transition in the second half when they got the ball, um and also in terms of how to maintain control in the second half, you know, I think until you know, between the 45th minute and the 80th minute, they had about 65 possession, really, or maybe not, not 65, 60 possession, but still, very, you know, impressive against. this side of town um yeah I think Corner and Alive were probably my pick of the Leipzig players and of course he headed very well um you know to make up for that mistake in the first half he will also be very happy um with that, um, but yeah, I think Leipzig, I think just as a team performs much better in that second half, there wasn't really talk of a superstar in their sober Slav, obviously, they also had a couple of decent shots saved , but Dukes, do you think he let you down in this game?

Who do you think performed poorly? Oh, I mean, I think all the City players were quite a bit below their normal levels by a couple of percentages, maybe except Bernardo Silva, as you point out, but I think it's hard not to talk about Holland, but that's not It's really trying. I think he was just getting frustrated with the game. We've seen this in recent Premier League games and they don't just find it when he does these. runs and you can see the frustration starting to grow. I mean, he only completed 11 passes in this game, only Lucas Klosterman completed 10 more and he was taken off at half-time for that Henry exchange that then changed the game too and Schlager made a mistake on that City goal of course and then Timo Verna dribbles zero, a key pass.

Two shots, a really disappointing display from them in total, but it feels like City are lacking dynamism and attack. I think they lack runners behind the decision. Getting rid of Sterling and Jesus in the summer in one move, both more agile dynamic runners behind the ball feels like a bit of a mistake now it's easy to say in retrospect of course, and maybe Pepper's just saw this as a transition. season, how many trophies can you rack up this year and then move on to another big summer of business because the midfield looks like it needs work?

I think they also need to establish who their starting defensive line is and of course that left package just gets bigger. and bigger because without De Bruyne on the pitch it felt like without Xiao Cancello, who of course is now at Bayern Munich, they really lack creativity, particularly those players who can pass the ball in behind and find those occasional runs, so that there are some problems at City. The thing about that, although guys like Phil Foden were on the bench here tonight and Alvarez was on the bench tonight, even someone like Rico Lewis, who has been incredibly expansive when playing in the return to City, were you surprised that Pep decided not to bring anyone? because I think he's the first manager since Jose Mourinho at Man United in Twin in 2018 not to do it in a Champions League, yeah I mean the later pundits liked Phil Brown telling him off on the pitch afterwards, no I do.

I think he was very pleased with it, it almost felt like he was punishing his players, as you sit there and sort this out and I'm not going to save you from that, but at the same time I think that's quite damaging, do you know if Man City ? If you had a one goal League before the Etihad there would probably be less pressure on that, at least in the last 30 minutes of that game, now it looks like they have a huge 90 minutes ahead of them against Assad who in transition can give you some "No We saw the best of Leipzig tonight, but they managed to draw 1-1 against a team that the experts know in advance that two out of three gave them a 75 chance of winning this entire competition, but we." I've said it for years.

City consistently come into this stage of the competition and are prone to conceding a lot of goals in short periods of time. It didn't happen tonight, but I wouldn't be surprised if Leipzig with a complete kunku, hopefully, that stage will have a major impact because the McCubbs, as we have talked about at the Continental Club, have been really promising with Marco Rosa, yes, they have been fantastic . I think they've lost that one game against Union since September. in all competitions, so in many ways it's not too surprising that they were able to get results against City today, they have been, you know, defensively much more resilient.

Christopher and Kunku, of course, have been excellent. I think he is still the top scorer in the Bundesliga. Isn't it, forgive me if I'm wrong about that, but I think it is? And yes, they are only four points clear in the title race between now and the second leg at the Etihad, although it is huge for them. You have to meet Frankfurt this weekend and they have Dortmund next Friday and then chew "happy" um you know, all the teams you know you mentioned "happy" only beat Barn 3-2 at the weekend, no mean feat thing, so yeah, I'm serious.

The Bundesliga title race might be heating up even more by then or they might have blown it, who knows because it's born in the Bundes League and they usually pull away at some point, but yeah, the bully's title race looks bright at the moment. So, you know, if CA, if they are there with a shout, if they can get to third or second place in the boolean and then go to City, they will be full of confidence, and as you say, do City have some coming too? important draws, you know Newcastle next Saturday, so yes, I think the second leg will be much more interesting.

I feel like it's a tie that's kind of bubbling and could explode just because of nature. of what these two sides can be when they are at full speed, so yes, stay tuned for the next one because, yes, this one wasn't up to par, but yes, it's set up well, yes, absolutely, I think Leipzig showed that exists. There's nothing to fear from Manchester City this season guys, how do you see the game in Eddie's announcement in a couple of weeks? Let us know in the comments below if you enjoyed this video, check out our review of Liverpool's 5-2. thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid last night what a game that was, if you enjoyed this video don't forget to like and subscribe to Euro Football daily and we'll see you later in the week, bye.