New surprise in the Champions League: there will not be any representatives from LaLiga or the Premier League in the semifinals. The last two rounds will be formed by clubs from, a priori, two leagues that are at least one step behind. Lyon knocked out Guardiola´s City last night. Yes, a team that has ended 7th on the “farmers league”. Unbelievable.
Citizens struggled to create danger in the first half, as they showed lack of depth despite having the ball most of the time. Lyon were very comfortable backwards on a 3-5-2 system that was good enough to close up every space. First goal by Maxwell Cornet just made it even worse. Guardiola was very worried on the bench, and he had reasons for it.
City changed completely by substituting Mahrez by Fernandinho in the second half, which allowed them to increase and improve their offensive attempts. This way, they took over the game and looked up Lyon, getting the equalizer through a great combination by Mahrez, Sterling and De Bruyne. What a goal.
But City clearly lost the match because of his lack of success at the box, both offensively and defensively. Lyon found a treasure thanks to a mistake on City´s defensive line and Dembelé put the French back ahead on the scoreboard with only ten minutes left. But the action that definitely killed City mentally was the huge chance that Sterling had to tie it up, as he missed with no keeper in the goal. That is when they were out.
Lyon certified their win with another gift, this time by keeper Ederson, who conceded the brace to Dembelé and knocked out Guardiola´s team in the Champions League for another season. probably wasting a huge chance to finally lift the trophy. Mistakes are very expensive.
