Credit to Lyon; they took the chances when they got them, but c'mon man! Wtf! Even with Pep's over-tinkering, City created the overwhelming majority of chances. Maybe you pin the first half on Pep, but in the second half, Laporte fell, Sterling missed, and Ederson biffed. Game over. That's what makes knockout soccer beautiful, I guess. The best players in the world fuck up all the time, but over a 38-game season or even a two-leg tie, it evens out. One game, though? You can't come back.
OK, I'm done for the day. Love you guys. Hope you enjoy doing these as much as I do. Enjoy the narratives over the next few days, and let's hope the semifinals produce the same amount of bonkers shit that these four games have. The Champions League is the best. See you back here on Tuesday.
Sterling turning that situation -- running away from goal, to a bouncing ball, with a defender on his back -- into a high-quality chance is so, so good.
Better end to the half from City, and I do wanna say: Lyon are a pretty good defensive team. It's not like you can just roll it out there and score on them. Plus, I think Cornet's finish was way more impressive than it initially looked. However! City are supposed to be as good as Bayern Munich. That was ... not it.
I mean there are obvious free spaces (outside the sidebacks, behind the wingbacks), which are there to exploit by the diagonal runs of KDB and Sterling, so its not flawless. its just... so defensive with this much players behind the ball, and there is not so much help to them whatsoever
The different situations of on-the-way out players fascinates me. Sometimes coaches will just stop using players if they know they're leaving (see: Can, Emre). Other times, they'll build their teams around them (see: Ramsey, Aaron). And sometimes a coach will announce a guy's impending departure ... and then immediately start him in the biggest game of his career (see: Garcia, Eric).
Kyle Walker 1) kept the runner onside, and 2) stopped running back after the ball was played when he mayyyybe could've gotten pressure on Cornet if he kept the recovery-run going.
PSG, Atleti and now Man City all put on more defensive starting 11s like they're trying not to make mistakes in the first 45 and win the last 45. But if you think you're more likely to win the last half, aren't you just better off doing that for the full 90?
I don’t hear it, but I know some broadcasters use audio from the teams’ prior games for chants and stuff. Don’t know how that translates to a neutral site.
Ryan, I think I remember you making this point during the last world cup, but I think it is relevant here: dominant teams should try to make games higher scoring when playing an inferior opponent. I am a dumbass when it comes to soccer, but from a game theory perspective, more scoring lessens the impact of randomness in a sport like soccer where individual goals can be lucky.
Standard practice, though, seems to be the "defense wins championships" line of thinking. Pep is not the only one: Tuchel loves to play very defensive/conservative lineups for PSG, for example. Didier Deschamps won the world cup with an embarrassment of attacking talent by playing 4 CBs and trying to win every game 1-0.
Absolutely agree! You're gonna have a couple embarrassing exits because soccer is random, but it works out over the long run. Look at Bayern yesterday -- or even PSG. They got ripped open a bunch in the first 30 minutes, both teams, and then dominated the rest of the match.
Ultimately, this game and every game is going to come down to randomness, but going for a 5-2 xG line instead of 3-1 seems more likely to be successful
My guess is that Pep's been triggered by all the bad bounces that have gone against his teams in the CL over the past five/six years, so he trotted out this lineup that should theoretically at least limit the bad bounces, even if it muted his own team on the attacking end. And, well, you can never eliminate the bad bounces ...
Every choice he makes is hyper analyzed and he probably gets credit when he shouldn’t and gets shit on when he shouldn’t. Everyone praised him after leg 1 vs Madrid but that game only changed once Sterling came on
Kind of reminds me of what happened with Clayton Kershaw in baseball (sorry if this alienates!). He's the best pitcher of the last 20 years but constantly lost in the playoffs b/c of a succession of absurd happenings. Now, the still loses in the playoffs a lot, but that's because he's not as good any more. Not saying Pep isn't good anymore, but all of the "Pep tinkers too much" stuff was overblown and the result of, like, Thomas Muller and Sergio Aguero missing PKs, but now he actually is over-tinkering and if it costs him it'll seem like it validates the previous decade of nonsense.
I hate to be a stereotypical “pep tinkers too much” guy but I’m not sure this setup gets the best out of any of the city players. Fernandinho is probably better with a close outside back, walker doesn’t go forward much anymore, de bruyne is better shifting right from the middle, not starting there, etc
This is insane. The Champions League is the best competition in sports. I would absolutely wear a hat and even consider getting a tattoo on my lip.
The single leg version is much less fair and much more random, fun, and exciting
Outside or inside of the lip
Bubble football for the win.
The final stats:
-xG: City 2.58, Lyon 0.97
-Shots: City 17, Lyon 7
-Final-third passes: City 103, Lyon 30
-Penalty-area passes: City 11, Lyon 7
Credit to Lyon; they took the chances when they got them, but c'mon man! Wtf! Even with Pep's over-tinkering, City created the overwhelming majority of chances. Maybe you pin the first half on Pep, but in the second half, Laporte fell, Sterling missed, and Ederson biffed. Game over. That's what makes knockout soccer beautiful, I guess. The best players in the world fuck up all the time, but over a 38-game season or even a two-leg tie, it evens out. One game, though? You can't come back.
The game seemed tighter than this but oh well. I knew somthing was up when I noticed Pep was wearing unfamiliar knitwear.
The actual expected goals for Lyon’s first and third are higher than the xG number. They were outside the box but both pretty good chances.
well, Pep didn't really made it in two legged ties neither since leaving Barca
It's lit. The French league is the best of the Big Five European leagues, clearly.
Rest>Form?
Form is temporary. Rest is permanent.
OK, I'm done for the day. Love you guys. Hope you enjoy doing these as much as I do. Enjoy the narratives over the next few days, and let's hope the semifinals produce the same amount of bonkers shit that these four games have. The Champions League is the best. See you back here on Tuesday.
Leipzig Lyon final...LFG!
Sterling turning that situation -- running away from goal, to a bouncing ball, with a defender on his back -- into a high-quality chance is so, so good.
Better end to the half from City, and I do wanna say: Lyon are a pretty good defensive team. It's not like you can just roll it out there and score on them. Plus, I think Cornet's finish was way more impressive than it initially looked. However! City are supposed to be as good as Bayern Munich. That was ... not it.
I mean there are obvious free spaces (outside the sidebacks, behind the wingbacks), which are there to exploit by the diagonal runs of KDB and Sterling, so its not flawless. its just... so defensive with this much players behind the ball, and there is not so much help to them whatsoever
The different situations of on-the-way out players fascinates me. Sometimes coaches will just stop using players if they know they're leaving (see: Can, Emre). Other times, they'll build their teams around them (see: Ramsey, Aaron). And sometimes a coach will announce a guy's impending departure ... and then immediately start him in the biggest game of his career (see: Garcia, Eric).
Pep's about to get eliminated because his one great defender fell down.
Did he get stepped on? I can't even tell.
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Damn, we gotta update the rankings
As a Man united fan I couldn’t agree more!
Caqueret just kneeling behind the wall is killing me.
Hair slicked back like Christian Bale in American Psycho playing peek-a-boo. The CL just keeps in giving.
i saw koke get a handball in la liga match post restart after doing something similar...dont really understand the upside
This and "defending with your hands behind your back" are two of the dumbest hacks for easy-to-fix problems.
beside the opportunity to improve hamstring flexibility mid match
xG update: 1.86 to 0.42 ...
Need another update after that sterling miss
"And Pep has parity" is a good in-the-moment call.
I have no idea what this lineup is. Might be the weirdest, least-explicable-to-the-layman lineup I've seen Pep. Also, what happened to Bernardo Silva?
Do you think he’s playing this to prepare for Bayern?
THERE HE IS. I like that. Bayern kinda play with two up top, so a back three would make sense. This is the best explanation I've seen.
Young & in the house
Kyle walker vs Alphonso Davies will be an insane matchup on the wing
lol to pep trolling by starting 19 yo they bought from barca academy in champions league quarters though
I want Guardiola to overthink so much that he ends up playing his normal team
Kyle Walker 1) kept the runner onside, and 2) stopped running back after the ball was played when he mayyyybe could've gotten pressure on Cornet if he kept the recovery-run going.
Moussa is the King Dembele
Pep doesn't suffer from male pattern baldness he's just bald from rubbing his head thinking about how he can kneecap his teams in CL knockout games..
Amazing to see these Private Equity wankers get what they deserve
You love to see it!
You can’t buy your way out of shit futbol
PSG, Atleti and now Man City all put on more defensive starting 11s like they're trying not to make mistakes in the first 45 and win the last 45. But if you think you're more likely to win the last half, aren't you just better off doing that for the full 90?
[guy tapping head meme]
no surprise lyon are beating these english farmers
oh no oh nooooooooooo
Correct me if I'm wrong, but is the fake crowd-noise machine chanting "Oh, Kev-in De Bruy-ne"?
I don’t hear it, but I know some broadcasters use audio from the teams’ prior games for chants and stuff. Don’t know how that translates to a neutral site.
Looking forward to a full revised Dembele rankings pod
I’ll try and make it happen
UEFA having their CAS revenge
Ryan, I think I remember you making this point during the last world cup, but I think it is relevant here: dominant teams should try to make games higher scoring when playing an inferior opponent. I am a dumbass when it comes to soccer, but from a game theory perspective, more scoring lessens the impact of randomness in a sport like soccer where individual goals can be lucky.
Standard practice, though, seems to be the "defense wins championships" line of thinking. Pep is not the only one: Tuchel loves to play very defensive/conservative lineups for PSG, for example. Didier Deschamps won the world cup with an embarrassment of attacking talent by playing 4 CBs and trying to win every game 1-0.
Thoughts on this rambling, half-baked take?
Absolutely agree! You're gonna have a couple embarrassing exits because soccer is random, but it works out over the long run. Look at Bayern yesterday -- or even PSG. They got ripped open a bunch in the first 30 minutes, both teams, and then dominated the rest of the match.
Ultimately, this game and every game is going to come down to randomness, but going for a 5-2 xG line instead of 3-1 seems more likely to be successful
Pep's been stung with attacking teams in this comp as well. Especially at Bayern.
sterling lmfaoooooooooooo
i know we already established ligue 1 as best of big 5 but crazy lyon was in 7th 1 when they cancelled
Lyon is much better than 7th best in France to be fair.
Robbed of a late run by their country's Marseille suporting president!
One way to solve your years-long left back problems: don’t have a left back!
Is pep still wearing cargo pants?
This will be a horrible VAR situation
Lyon have looked dangerous as soon as they started to try attacking again. Was ... Pep right?
City do look shaky and supreme tactical fouler has already vacated the ptch.
I think I would like to see Mahrez on for Fernandinho at half.
And David Silva for Rodri
My guess is that Pep's been triggered by all the bad bounces that have gone against his teams in the CL over the past five/six years, so he trotted out this lineup that should theoretically at least limit the bad bounces, even if it muted his own team on the attacking end. And, well, you can never eliminate the bad bounces ...
Pep's at it AGAIN!!!!!!!!
Aouar😍
Pep really played 3 CBs and 2 DMs in a game against inferior opposition where you should be pressing to score as much as possible. Incredible stuff
And he still only lost because all of his best players decided to massively fuck up in three separate individual moments.
Every choice he makes is hyper analyzed and he probably gets credit when he shouldn’t and gets shit on when he shouldn’t. Everyone praised him after leg 1 vs Madrid but that game only changed once Sterling came on
More bad bounces to trigger Pep next year...he gonna hire Pulis as a CL assistant
I know it's a counterfactual, but you wonder how many chances they'd have had if he started a normal attacking lineup
They would have won toward the end, like PSG is used to do, even if, once in a while, Lyon wins.
This
This
Have said for a while that the French league is underrated (strokes chin)
What’s the definition of dummy?
I know it’s a dumb one but if City blows this game, the narrative that Pep can’t win CL without Messi would gain a lot of traction
Kind of reminds me of what happened with Clayton Kershaw in baseball (sorry if this alienates!). He's the best pitcher of the last 20 years but constantly lost in the playoffs b/c of a succession of absurd happenings. Now, the still loses in the playoffs a lot, but that's because he's not as good any more. Not saying Pep isn't good anymore, but all of the "Pep tinkers too much" stuff was overblown and the result of, like, Thomas Muller and Sergio Aguero missing PKs, but now he actually is over-tinkering and if it costs him it'll seem like it validates the previous decade of nonsense.
could say the same about cp3
If I was a Pep stan i'd reply that Barca won two when he was there and only one since, so why can't every other manager do it.
Surely Mahrez on after half?
Foden to save the day? Stage set for a hero-making moment ...
Probably shouldn't wait till then, but not likely
I’m generally fairly pro-VAR but that Lyon goal was a great example of how it can really take the air out of an exciting moment, right?
No English or Spanish teams in Semi Finals, just like we all imagined
"Those from the gastronomic capital have cooked up something scrumptious" 👍👍👍
LE WHAT
.99xg?!
David Silva could double the size of his statue outside the Etihad if he pulls city back
Man. Sterling is a fucking superstar.
Sterling with that Phonzie Davies patience in the box.
yeah, he is a bad man
Mama there goes that man
Nice clearance by cancelo from lyon’s box
Never thought I’d want to see Benjamin mendy subbed on
I hate to be a stereotypical “pep tinkers too much” guy but I’m not sure this setup gets the best out of any of the city players. Fernandinho is probably better with a close outside back, walker doesn’t go forward much anymore, de bruyne is better shifting right from the middle, not starting there, etc