Live football thread.

[Mr. P]

[Andicis]

Some very very interesting refereeing in that game. No lover of City, but even I feel aggrieved. 

[Bris Vegas]

1 minute ago, Anag Ram said:

City bottled it a bit. They panicked in possession and gave away too many fouls. If they have a weakness, it’s that they are not that physical and so they resorted to petulant shoves and trips.

Fair play to Real. They were terrific when it mattered.

I think the subs really hurt them. Zinchenko is solid but not as strong or quick defensively as Walker. Fernandinho looks shot, especially compared to Camavinga who was a bundle of energy for Real Madrid. Jack Grealish was also poor and I’m surprised he came on instead of Raheem Sterling late on.

It showed in the Fa Cup semi-final. City’s starting XI is the best in the world but when they make changes they are notably weaker, especially against the better teams.

Over both legs City were largely superior and they will be kicking themselves.

Still, if Liverpool are to win it, I’d rather they beat Real Madrid in the final.

[Derbados]

I see Grealish had another good game

 

[Bris Vegas]

5 minutes ago, Andicis said:

Some very very interesting refereeing in that game. No lover of City, but even I feel aggrieved. 

I don’t know how Casemiro gets away with so many fouls without a booking. They say it’s dark arts or mastery, but I just think it’s poor refereeing. Modric and Carvajal were booked for far less.

[Andicis]

4 minutes ago, Derbados said:

I see Grealish had another good game

 

City would be a much better side if they had spent the Grealish money on Kane. 

[JfR]

Let this be a warning: you don't mess with African witch doctors

[Rammy03]

I can't quite believe City lost that, especially in the way they did. Incredible.

[ben_dcfc]

53 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

I think the subs really hurt them. Zinchenko is solid but not as strong or quick defensively as Walker. Fernandinho looks shot, especially compared to Camavinga who was a bundle of energy for Real Madrid. Jack Grealish was also poor and I’m surprised he came on instead of Raheem Sterling late on.

It showed in the Fa Cup semi-final. City’s starting XI is the best in the world but when they make changes they are notably weaker, especially against the better teams.

Over both legs City were largely superior and they will be kicking themselves.

Still, if Liverpool are to win it, I’d rather they beat Real Madrid in the final.

Sterling was awful when he came on though, whereas Grealish played well in normal time, was denied two great goals by a clearance off the line and then a really good save. I do agree the difference in energy between Camavinga and the City midfield subs was stark. 

The subs may have hurt them in terms of extra time, but they were very comfortable until the 90th minute. A bad piece of defending by Cancelo and suddenly they seemed to lose their heads and never really recovered. Played into Madrid's hands in extra time, silly fouls that allowed them to waste time and constantly kicking it long. They generally seem to struggle when games get emotional.

It always seems petty to moan about added on time, but that was a joke at the end of the second half of ET. There were two stoppages for Militao that added up to nearly 5 minutes. Then things like that ridiculous foul he gave against Foden, took around 1 minute to take the free kick where the ref clearly wasn't adding any time on for. Added to the bizzare leniency for Casemiro, it was a very odd refereeing performance. 

[Bris Vegas]

33 minutes ago, ben_dcfc said:

Sterling was awful when he came on though, whereas Grealish played well in normal time, was denied two great goals by a clearance off the line and then a really good save. I do agree the difference in energy between Camavinga and the City midfield subs was stark. 

The subs may have hurt them in terms of extra time, but they were very comfortable until the 90th minute. A bad piece of defending by Cancelo and suddenly they seemed to lose their heads and never really recovered. Played into Madrid's hands in extra time, silly fouls that allowed them to waste time and constantly kicking it long. They generally seem to struggle when games get emotional.

It always seems petty to moan about added on time, but that was a joke at the end of the second half of ET. There were two stoppages for Militao that added up to nearly 5 minutes. Then things like that ridiculous foul he gave against Foden, took around 1 minute to take the free kick where the ref clearly wasn't adding any time on for. Added to the bizzare leniency for Casemiro, it was a very odd refereeing performance. 

I certainly think it’s the final Uefa will have wanted. That said, there were some poor decisions throughout.

I agree with your assessment on City losing it on emotion. Sterling was poor, but both Jesus and Mahrez are far better defensively than Grealish who of the four isn’t the quickest.

Bernarndo Silva was immense as usual. But that late Fernandinho sub pushed him in midfield and Silva went wide to take Mahrez’s spot. It meant City lost all composure in the middle of the park for the last five minutes.

Once it went to extra time I feared for City anyway. Mentally they were shot, and the XI on the pitch seemed weak especially in midfield.

Easy to say in hindsight, but I think Pep’s subs cost them. They were so in control it wasn’t like Real Madrid scored two fluky corners. City just failed to keep the ball and their composure.

 

[Gee SCREAMER !!]

18 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

I certainly think it’s the final Uefa will have wanted. That said, there were some poor decisions throughout.

I agree with your assessment on City losing it on emotion. Sterling was poor, but both Jesus and Mahrez are far better defensively than Grealish who of the four isn’t the quickest.

Bernarndo Silva was immense as usual. But that late Fernandinho sub pushed him in midfield and Silva went wide to take Mahrez’s spot. It meant City lost all composure in the middle of the park for the last five minutes.

Once it went to extra time I feared for City anyway. Mentally they were shot, and the XI on the pitch seemed weak especially in midfield.

Easy to say in hindsight, but I think Pep’s subs cost them. They were so in control it wasn’t like Real Madrid scored two fluky corners. City just failed to keep the ball and their composure.

 

Now Ramos isn't there, whose going to bust Salahs shoulder and knock the goalie comatose in the first 10 mins. 

[JoetheRam]

Only one thing to say about City

[TimRam]

17 minutes ago, JoetheRam said:

Only one thing to say about City

Never thought it would come to this where I don't care a brit team got knocked out of european competition. Such is the premiership.

[TigerTedd]

8 minutes ago, TimRam said:

Never thought it would come to this where I don't care a brit team got knocked out of european competition. Such is the premiership.

I love being a neutral in these situations. I always root for the British team in European games. But when they lose, I can easily switch to ‘ha ha’ mode, without any qualms or regrets.

I’ll definitely be rooting for Liverpool in the final, but if they lose, I definitely won’t be crying into my corn flakes. But I might be laughing at all the scousers who will be. 

[JoetheRam]

16 minutes ago, TigerTedd said:

I love being a neutral in these situations. I always root for the British team in European games. But when they lose, I can easily switch to ‘ha ha’ mode, without any qualms or regrets.

I’ll definitely be rooting for Liverpool in the final, but if they lose, I definitely won’t be crying into my corn flakes. But I might be laughing at all the scousers who will be. 

Yeah I never understood the cheer for the British team thing. Seems like a relic from the 1960's or 70's when British clubs generally had only British and Irish players in them sticking it to Johnny Foreigner. I can see how that might be attractive to some people, but even if that was the case now, I can't see myself wanting the British club to do well. 

'Cheer' (not literally, who really cares which Petrostate wins?) for the side the furthest away from Derby is my method.

[Gaspode]

For all their quality I find City frustrating to watch - with less than a minute to go at the end of extra time and desperately needing a goal last they were still tippy tappying about with the ball.

Suspect questions will be asked high up in the City hierarchy following another failure on Pep’s part……

[ramsbottom]

20 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

For all their quality I find City frustrating to watch - with less than a minute to go at the end of extra time and desperately needing a goal last they were still tippy tappying about with the ball.

Suspect questions will be asked high up in the City hierarchy following another failure on Pep’s part……

I'll throw this out there and wait for the football hipsters among us (especially @Bris Vegas) to come at me but, I find Cit-eh really boring to watch.  It's all to clinical, all to precise, it's like watching a metronome.  Give me Klopp's style any day as there's always a element of chaos, that it can all go completely tits up at any second.

[Derbados]

43 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

For all their quality I find City frustrating to watch - with less than a minute to go at the end of extra time and desperately needing a goal last they were still tippy tappying about with the ball.

Suspect questions will be asked high up in the City hierarchy following another failure on Pep’s part……

1.2 billion spent since he took over. . . Let that sink in 

[Premier ram]

Hope Real Madrid win it

[DarkFruitsRam7]

12 hours ago, Andicis said:

Some very very interesting refereeing in that game. No lover of City, but even I feel aggrieved. 

I very rarely buy into refereeing conspiracy theories, but the decisions he made in extra time (didn't catch the game in normal time) were utterly bizarre. Topped off by blowing early too.