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Manchester City are yet to clinch their first Champions League title, despite the club spending billions on players in recent years. Pep Guardiola already has the freedom to build the team he desires but his Manchester City side have failed to even reach the semi-finals of the European competition. They were knocked out of the Champions League by Tottenham last night after a 4-4 aggregate score, with Spurs going through on away goals, despite losing 4-3 at the Etihad.
The Citizens, who are regarded as one of the most lethal teams in the world, have been a dominant force in England. But their defence has been a reason for concern and this lingering problem cost them their European triumph this season.
Guardiola has invested heavilly in defense but unfortunatley, City seemed incapable in warding off Spurs' lethal counter-attacks, despite dominating possession. Now lets's take a look at three City players, who disappointed Guardiola the most on Wednesday night.
Ederson Moraes
Manchester City bought the former Benfica shot-stopper for a massive €35 million in the summer of 2017 to replace the error-prone Claudio Bravo. He has been a success for City in the domestic level so far and many regard him as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
Unfortunately, he seems incapable to emulate his domestic success at the European stage. His bad shot-stopping led to Heung-Min Son's equalizer in the 7th minute. Although he can't be blamed for the second goal, the Brazilian's slow reaction for Fernando Llorente's header in Spurs' third goal caused even more trouble for City.
He was rarely tested for the entire match and yet he ended up conceding three decisive away goals. His performance was not up to the mark for a top Premier League goalkeeper.
David Silva
No one can argue about what Silva has contributed to Manchester City so far. He has been one of Guardiola's most trusted and best players this season. His technical skills and abilities to create key passes at will has brought joy to the City faithful.
However, he tends to disappear in important games and his woeful statistics in the Champions League match against Spurs tells a lot about his struggle. He missed 27 percent of his deliveries throughout the game, surely too much for a midfielder of his calibre.
He was not much of a threat for Spurs' shaky defense. He had zero dribbles, zero shots on target, and just one key pass throughout his 63-minute spell before being replaced by Fernandinho. The Spaniard will be keen to forget this game.
Aymeric Laporte
The French defender has looked to be worth every penny after City triggered his £57 million release clause to sign him from Athletico Bilbao in January 2018. He quickly adapted to the Premier League and became an impenetrable wall for Guardiola's team this season.
He is a reliable passer, who rarely makes mistakes and has enabled his side to build attacks smoothly from the back. However, his worst performance in a City shirt came at such a wrong time as he was at fault for all of Spurs' goals in their decisive Champions League quarter-final tie. His misplaced pass enabled Son to score his first goal of the match.
He made another mistake shortly by losing posession cheaply which resulted in Son's second goal. He was also at fault for not hindering Llorente properly for Spurs' third goal. He was surely one of the worst performers for City last night.
