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Edge of space game area dominated8/12/2023 ![]() ![]() Inter's back three were more than prepared to sit deep between them and the ball were seven teammates more than ready to do anything fair or foul to slow the sky-blue tide. ![]() It just did not work from minute one to minute 90. Suddenly, without Inter noticing it, Erling Haaland is one against one. The space those two have left behind is filled by overlapping Stones, quite possibly drawing another center back out to deal with him. Bernardo Silva drops deep out of the front three. You could see a logic to what Pep Guardiola was planning. Note John Stones, No.5, far from the midfield berth he has occupied of late Here's how the team's passing network looked, and note how high up Stones was and how far on the right (No. Having been pilloried for starting a one-man midfield without Rodri on this stage two years ago, Guardiola responded by starting a one-man midfield with Rodri. What City's plan did not involve was a repurposed center back operating as something akin to a right-sided attacking midfielder, the free eight that was once David Silva now handed over to a man once labelled the next Bobby Moore. And yet perhaps the most convincing explanation for City's tough road to glory tonight was that yet again they or their manager made matters far more difficult than was necessary.Ĭity had a complex plan that they've executed to perfection for months on end, one that involves Stones stepping out from defense to aid Rodri, an assertive double pivot that blocks out counter attacks and offers the playmakers ahead of them someone to dovetail with and bounce the ball off. Guardiola certainly seemed to believe that was the case, continually urging his players to "relax" throughout the first half. So did the nerves of the European champions. Inter's pressure forced mistakes from City. This was, by the standards of the European elite, an ordinary team doing extraordinary work in forcing the game to be played in a way that suited them. What Simone Inzaghi's side did well was plug that space with mulch, muddying up a contest that was never played at a tempo that suited the favorites. Against Serie A opposition Inter have proven themselves to be a dangerous opponent but at the highest level, there was a gulf between them and City. At the death, they even had the chances they so infrequently forged for themselves beforehand, Romelu Lukaku awfully unlucky to find himself the fall guy.ĭon't let the two expected goals they ended up with confuse you though. Lautaro Martinez had Pep Guardiola on his knees only for the Argentine's decision-making to let him down. When Ederson and his defenders wavered in possession, Simone Inzaghi's men pounced. Inter were an obdurate, energetic opponent who took a masochistic joy in letting City have the ball, their man-to-man press discombobulating their opposition in the early stages. None, however, have matched City's ability to make it so much more difficult for themselves than it needed to be. For so many - Bayern Munich in 2013, Manchester United in 1999 - the final step is the toughest of all. Only the best of the best win their league, domestic cup and the Champions League. That rather typifies the night Manchester City entered the echelon of Europe's greatest sides. For a center back, this was something quite magnificent. Drawing two Inter defenders in his direction, he eases the ball out from under his feet, working for that scintilla of space for a pass or a shot.
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