At some stage, you need to realise when you play away from home in the Champions League against Manchester City and you need to score, you need to have an attitude. I don’t think it was ever going to finish 0-0 with the way both teams played.
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Yaya Toure stayed on the bench for City, who brought back five players after the 2-1 win over West Brom at the weekend, while PSG were again without key midfielder Marco Verratti.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring his sides third goal as Real Madrid’s Marcelo, rear, joins in the celebration during the Champions League 2nd leg quarterfinal soccer match between Real Madrid and VfL Wolfsburg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday April 12, 2016.
“In my second season, we didn’t play well but beat Bayern Munich again and Roma, then we lost to Barca again”.
With City sitting fourth in the Premier League standings, the 24-year-old noted how hard the competition in England is in the fight for European qualifying spots for next season.
PSG keeper Kevin Trapp had no chance as De Bruyne expertly picked out the bottom corner with a bending strike, and the composure to take the extra touch in the build up was just as impressive.
Since Blanc took over as PSG manager from Carlo Ancelotti in 2013, he has guided the club to three successive French titles, but has also suffered three Champions League quarter-final defeats.
Pellegrini was reluctant to discuss the prospect of taking on his successor if Guardiola’s Bayern Munich overcome Benfica on Wednesday, but he acknowledged it was important for his own standing in the game to push City significantly beyond the club’s previous Champions League best of a last-16 berth.
“I really don’t understand the criticism or they don’t understand Barcelona have better players”. “I selected the team, I selected the strategy and I am as disappointed as the players, but the buck stops with me”.
At his pre-match briefing at the Etihad Stadium, Blanc said PSG needed to tighten up defensively and not give City the space they allowed them last week. If you are in the semi-finals you have to play against a very good team.
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The sides were level 2-2 after the first leg, with City netting the two away goals in Paris. They were a good team, not particularly spectacular team, but very, very clinical, efficient team.
