Manchester City 1 PSG 0: Some Pep Guardiola changes cannot come soon enough

ANALYSIS: Kevin De Bruyne is a £55m bargain and other lessons we learnt during Man City's 1-0 win over PSG that sent them into the Champions League semi-finals

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Tuesday 12 April 2016 23:31 BST
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Sergio Aguero battles Marquinhos for the ball
Sergio Aguero battles Marquinhos for the ball (Reuters)

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1. It used to be that Manuel Pellegrini approached big European home games in a 4-4-2 which meant they barely got a kick. This was not quite that, but it was a 4-4-1-1 which was not radically different. City simply could not get enough possession of the ball and this, more than anything else, is what is likely to change under Pep Guardiola. The arrival of Ilkay Gundogan to sit at the base of midfield and dictate play cannot come soon enough.

2. There are some Manchester City players who struggle to adjust to playing in Europe but Joe Hart is not one of them. He was important in the first leg, saving Zlatan Ibrahimovic's penalty, and on Tuesday night he was just as good, twice denying Ibrahmovic free kicks and commanding his box from a bombardment of PSG crosses. If City upgrade on him they must be signing someone very good.

3. Manchester City have some world class players but even after a long term knee injury Kevin De Bruyne has returned to be their very best. He settled this tie with a brilliant winner from the edge of the box, having scored an excellent one on the break in Paris. David Silva has been pushed out to the left now and Yaya Toure is being phased out. De Bruyne, the £55millon bargain, is the main man now.

4. City have struggled recently with how best to use Yaya Toure, given his status and achievements over the last few years. Tuesday night though Manuel Pellegrini made the bold call to leave him on the bench and it worked, bringing him on in the final few minutes to slow the game down and keep the ball in the final minutes just when City needed to shut Paris out of the game.

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