CPREPARATION FOR THE “REVERSE FINAL”
Manchester City (Man.City) is currently only 1 point higher than position 25 in the Champions League rankings. Any team ranked 25th or lower in the final rankings will be eliminated directly. Of course, team number 25 is also facing a life-or-death situation at this time, with the spirit of having to win at all costs when entering the next match. That team number 25 is Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), and their next match: against Man.City at Parc des Princes.
Man.City has lost 7/10 recent matches
The upcoming PSG – Man.City clash can be considered a “reverse final”, in which in theory Pep Guardiola’s team is at a disadvantage. Technically, PSG has home field advantage. Mentally, they are facing a greater need to “win” than Man.City. That is an opportunity for PSG to save themselves, because this team is away to Stuttgart in the final series of matches, not easy to win. On the contrary, Man.City still has one more chance when they meet Brugge at home in the final match.
What is clear right now: Pep Guardiola and his team are no longer able to reach the top 8, which means the group with direct tickets to the round of 16. Luckily, Man.City was still ranked 25th when the “league” phase ended, meaning they were able to play off. On the one hand, two play-off matches will make the schedule (already fierce for everyone) even more stressful. The risk of losing strength and losing strength increases. On the other hand, at that play-off stage, the teams ranked 17th or lower (like Man.City currently) will have to meet the teams ranked 16th or higher, the seeded teams. Just like Man.City, there are too many “big guys” jostling in the play-off area to get into the round of 16. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid, Sporting Lisbon, AC Milan… Even if they avoid defeat against PSG, Man.City will still have difficulty rising to the seeded team group in the play-off round.
KHIPS NO LONGER HAVE A “Strong” POSITION ANYMORE
Former famous player Rio Ferdinand commented like that, as a commentator. Old general Ilkay Guendogan also said the same thing, as a senior player of the team. They all said: Man.City no longer has the position of being a “strong team”, and this is an important reason why they are difficult to play and easy to lose. The essence of a strong team is to transmit fear to the opponent. Every opponent must be cautious when entering a match with them, playing with the mentality of hoping for a draw and not daring to consider the possibility of victory when faced with risky options.
Now, everyone “dare to think of victory” when facing Man.City. Guardiola and his team only won 1 and lost 7 in the last 10 matches. Meeting Man.City without taking advantage of “kicking to win” is a waste! As a result, the opponent tries to compete in each duel, tries to stretch a little in the last effort, and suddenly everyone becomes stronger. In every phase of losing the ball or missing a beat, Man.City easily counterattacked.
Guardiola spoke harshly: “We played well against Juventus. We played well in many other matches. It’s just that people deliberately point to the result and say that’s the most important thing. I’ll wonder why I took it personally.” unfavorable results. Honestly, we played very well.”
The problem is, the opponent is not bored, and plays… better. Guendogan expressed sarcasm: “The opponent didn’t even need to try their best, didn’t need to play too well to beat us. They won easier than expected.” As if to support Gundogan’s comments, Juventus only won 1 of the last 6 matches before meeting Man.City and… won easily (Dusan Vlahovic and McKennie scored). Guardiola showed that he had no solution left. At 87 minutes, Man.City just made a substitution, I don’t know what for!
