V Bruge

[gavin]

Ederson, Nunes, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Gundogan, De Bruyne (C), Bernardo, Foden, Haaland.

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Grealish, Savinho, Wright, Alleyne, O'Reilly, Lewis, McAtee

Obvious two changes

[Hesperus]

Awful first half. Slow and devoid of skill up front. Their goalie has not had a shot to save. Obvious we were going to get caught on the counter.

Very hard from here for his to win.

[gavin]

Not a good first half and then the icing on the cake - a goal for them. They had looked a bit dangerous but they were fortunate to get a deflection off Akanji straight to their player to knock it in. We'd been looking for just that type of lucky break with the ball in the box all the half. We are going to have to be considerably more dangerous in the second half.

[Hesperus]

Low block, hit us on the break. Easy.  It's happened so often this season you'd think we'd be able to come up with a better game plan.


Poor tactics from Pep. Foden and Silva on the wings have not beaten anyone. 45 mins of turgid attacking play.

[KunDB]

A hugely uninspiring first half.

Almost don't care now if they go out. Might be best kick in the ass this team needs.

Champions in name only this season, sad to say. Lost motivation and drive.

Not over yet but Gundogan backing up Haaland yawn and DeBruyne lost on the left, sometimes right wing, as is Foden yawn.

[KunDB]

Did a different team come out second half for us?

Sure seems like that.

[gavin]

It was comfortable in the end. We showed much more dynamism which was clearly the focus with the substitution.

It looks like it could be very tough in the play offs.

[Swiss]

Maybe savinho wasn't fit enough for a full 90 and his pace and directness suited a tired Brugge.

But yeah, that 1st half was diabolical and there was no urgency to get back for their goal.

Decent 2nd half. Faster passing.

Loved Haaland getting pissed off in the end and almost forcing the goal.

Celtic, then one of Real Madrid or Bayern, so not likely to progress

[Hesperus]

Well done Savinho great to go through. Much better 2nd half.

Bayern or Real in the playoffs though 😐

[KunDB]

Different team and attitude second half.

Sharper passing, more tempo and direct runs at their defence (mainly Kovacic) created confusion in their defence. Why it took over 45 minutes to start doing that I've no idea.

[KunDB]

How does the next round work? Is there a boring pumped up short draw?

Answer:
We will play as said earlier by Swiss, RM our Barcelona.

that finish between 9th and 16th will be seeded in the knockout phase play-off draw, meaning they will face a team placed 17th to 24th – with, in principle, the return leg at home. The eight clubs which prevail in the knockout phase play-offs will then progress to the round of 16, where they will each face one of the top-eight finishers, who will be seeded in the round of 16.



From OS:
The teams that finished the league phase between ninth and 16th will be seeded for the first draw for the knockout phase and will face a team placed 17th to 24th.
The seeded team will, in principle, play the return leg at home.
Potential opponents are also pre-defined by pairings of teams' final league positions.
For example, teams finishing ninth and tenth will face the sides that ended 23rd or 24th; teams finishing 11th or 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides and so on.
So, as City finished 22nd - we know we will face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
The draw starts with the unseeded teams, allocating each team from a pair of unseeded teams to one of the relevant pre-determined positions in the bracket, starting with the sides ranked 23/24 and finishing with those in 17/18.
Sides can face another team from the same national association in the knockout phase play-offs. Clubs can also face opponents they met during the league phase.

[Stephen Paul]

So Real Madrid or Bayern next ?

[Swiss]

Yeah. Bit confusing at first as I thought we played celtic; but no, just one of RM or Bayern. Draw on 31st at 11.

If we get past them (no chance with their pacey wingers), we'd play one of At. Madrid or leverkusen. Draw on 21st feb