Manchester City ensured their progress into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach. Despite City controlling the game in the early stages, it was the hosts who led after 23 minutes through Raffael. City, however, found a way back just before half-time, as David Silva turned in Kevin de Bruyne’s cross at the near post. The result – coupled with Barcelona’s 2-0 victory at Celtic – meant that City will finish Group C as runners-up.
Here are the talking points from the game at Borussia-Park:
#1 City wasteful in possession early on
The opening 20 minutes witnessed City dominate possession in midfield – as expected from a Pep Guardiola side. However, the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva struggled to find the decisive pass through to Sergio Aguero to test goalkeeper Yann Sommer. The Gladbach centre-halves and the sitting midfielders did a decent job of keeping the star striker frustrated. Even wingbacks Raheem Sterling and Jesus Navas were given no space to advance up the flank and create a possible goal-scoring chance.
The Premier League side didn’t seem to show much intent to press Gladbach and seize the early initiative. The sucker-punch arrived soon after, as Lars Stindl beat John Stones in an aerial duel before his low cross was smashed home by striker Raffael to put the German side 1-0 up.
#2 Claudio Bravo under scrutiny – again
Pep Guardiola’s decision to sign ‘sweeper-keeper’ Claudio Bravo from Barcelona and loan out long-serving Joe Hart has been questioned many a time by the media. An uncertain league debut in the Manchester Derby and a mindless red card against Barcelona in the Champions League have highly doubted Bravo’s credentials as a reliable first-choice keeper, and Wednesday was another classic example.
A throw aimed towards Kevin de Bruyne in the 38th minute – without realising the imminent danger around the Belgian – was quickly intercepted by fullback Oscar Wendt, who dribbled past a number of City shirts before seeing his shot saved by the body of Bravo. The Chilean had quickly redeemed himself, but not before an awful decision that could easily have led to a two-goal deficit for City.
#3 Stindl’s sending-off dents Gladbach’s hopes of winning
With Barcelona beating Celtic in the group’s other fixture, Gladbach knew that they had to win to have any hopes of staying alive in the Champions League. However, their cause was not helped one bit when their skipper Lars Stindl was shown a second yellow card early in the second half for a tussle with Nicklas Otamendi – which culminated in the City defender being hacked down to the ground.
Referee Cuneyt Cakir had no hesitation in giving Stindl his marching orders. Gladbach’s one man disadvantage – albeit just for 12 minutes thanks to Fernandinho receiving a red card in the 63rd minute – severely dashed their chances of pushing up the field and putting City on the back foot. They had lost not just their captain, but an attacking option as well.
#4 Gladbach missed a second striking option
City dominated possession, as usual, meaning that Gladbach were forced to sit back and hope that a loose pass fell for them. Each time they had the ball, however, they were confined to locating just Raffael upfront. He was left isolated for a fair portion of the game and badly needed a partner in attack to open up a promising goal-scoring chance.
Despite that, he did manage to carve out a shot or two at goal to test Bravo, but with a victory of paramount importance, Gladbach probably missed a trick by not committing two up front at least in the latter stages once the one-man disadvantage was wiped out. The manager’s decision to take Raffael off for Andre Hahn in the 84th minute left many Gladbach fans nonplussed.
#5 Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva integral to City’s chances in the Champions League
City’s display on Wednesday was further evidence of the impact playmakers David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne have on their style of play. While Silva pulls the strings in midfield by dictating play and providing the pinpoint pass for initiating an attack, De Bruyne continues to get himself into dangerous positions and deliver accurate crosses for the likes of Aguero to feed upon.
Silva also has the tendency to directly be part of the attack started by him, joining Aguero in the penalty area to appear as a second target for the fullbacks and attacking midfielders. His timely presence in the six-yard box to turn in de Bruyne’s cross helped City earn the point that clinched their progress into the knockout stages of the Champions League.
With Yaya Toure also back in the first-team action and set to be added to the Champions League squad when they are available for amendment in January, Guardiola knows that the dynamic trio is key to City’s hopes of improving on their semi-final run last season.
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