Manchester City knew they were the favourites to progress against Borussia Monchengladbach given their 2-0 advantage from the first leg and in the end, it was all too easy for them as two goals in the opening 20 minutes from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan sealed their passage into the last eight of the UEFA Champions League.
World-class City
It wasn’t just the goals that Manchester City scored last night – it was their attitude. They were on Gladbach from the first minute until the very last and, in many ways, the German side deserve credit for not being beaten even more dramatically. City really did look like a team who wanted to go out there and make a statement to the rest of the sides in the mix to win the entire competition, and we’d say that did just that in Hungary.
Monchengladbach’s troubles
After losing six straight games on the bounce in all competitions it was going to be a tall order for Borussia Monchengladbach to cause City any kind of sustained problems. They did get a few decent shots in but overall they just couldn’t even come close to the level of their opponents, and that’s something they need to dwell on heading into next season. For now, though, just getting a win under their belt is going to be vital if they want to prevent their astonishing drop down the Bundesliga table.
The clear favourites?
Manchester City are priced as the 9/4 favourites with 888sport to win the European Cup for the first time in their history. The likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain will be hot on their heels but right now, is there anyone better placed to win the whole thing than City? Pep Guardiola has been determined to get the club over the finish line and finally claim that elusive title for a long time but they’ve always just fallen short. With the quadruple on the horizon, many fans will hope that priority number one will be winning the UEFA Champions League to cement their legacy as one of the all-time best.
Match Report
Manchester City: Ederson (7), Walker (6.5), Stones (8), Dias (6.5), Cancelo (7), Rodri (5.5), Gundogan (8), Silva (7.5), De Bruyne (9), Mahrez (7), Foden (7.5), Zinchenko (6), Laporte (6), Fernandinho (6.5), Sterling (5.5), Aguero (5.5)
Borussia Monchengladbach: Sommer (5), Bensebaini (4), Elvedi (4.5), Ginter (5), Lainer (5), Zakaria (4.5), Neuhaus (6), Hofmann (5), Stindl (6), Thuram (6), Embolo (6), Jantschke (6), Wendt (5.5), Wolf (6), Traore (5.5), Plea (6)
Referee: Sergey Karasev
Goals: De Bruyne, Gundogan
Yellow Cards: Cancelo, Fernandinho, Lainer
Red Cards: N/A
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
