Seeing Manchester City get outplayed by Real Madrid must have been the biggest low point for Manuel Pellegrini this season. Coming in to the game, Pellegrini sounded positive and stressed that his team will not crumble under the pressure of playing Real Madrid at Bernabeu.
One had to see the merit of those claims as Pellegrini had the first hand experience of managing Real Madrid and knew what it is like to walk out of the tunnel at Bernabeu and to face the 80000+ fans.
However, seeing City deliver a toothless performance at the most crucial of times, it was a clear case of the players lacking European experience and pedigree.
Only Yaya Toure had the prior experience of going all the way and winning the Champions League crown, however, the big Ivorian played his worse game of City’s career and was appalling.
Like Toure, City failed to get any foothold in the game. So much so, The Citizens could not even manage a single shot on goal. The lack of quality from the Premier League team must have been alarming for Pep Guardiola, who arrives in the summer with hopes of claiming the European glory.
Despite their semifinal appearance, City look far way from the team who can win Champions League in coming seasons unless a mass squad overhaul happens later this summer.
Real Madrid were never troubled for even one moment and had it not been Joe Hart and some poor finishing from Cristiano and Co, Los Blancos should have scored at least three goals and make their victory all the more emphatic.
Manuel Pellegrini now has the important task of carrying City to a top-4 finish this season before he departs in the summer. However, with injuries to Vincent Kompany and David Silva it will not be an easy task for The Citizens, who will play Arsenal later this month.
Manchester City will find it hard to recover from their appalling defeat against Real Madrid and it will be a real test of City’s mental strength to come back from their Bernabeu capitulation and end the season on a positive note.
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