Manchester City: Defensive discipline catches the eye in Champions League quarter-final win over PSG

The organisation shown by Eliaquim Mangala, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernando and Fernandinho saw the Citizens through

Joe Hart and Nicolas Otamendi embrace after the quarter-final win (Getty)

I know how much attention and praise there has been for Kevin De Bruyne today but what most struck me about Manchester City’s win last night was something we do not always associate with them: their defensive discipline and compact organisation.

As I have covered in my column before, City’s centre-backs can be too keen to try to come out to win the ball, which leaves space in behind them. That is how they have been beaten on the break by Leicester City, Liverpool and Stoke City this season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic would have loved to exploit that last night, by dropping off for the ball, forcing one of the City centre-backs to follow him, creating space for his fast team-mates to break into. That is one of the reasons that Paris Saint Germain are so good in away games. In this year’s Champions League they won 3-0 at Shakhtar Donetsk, 5-0 at Malmo and 2-1 at Chelsea.

But last night at the Etihad Stadium PSG could not do it. The space simply wasn’t there. And that was because of City’s disciplined quartet of Mangala, Otamendi, Fernando and Fernandinho. There have been times this year when City’s two defensive midfielders have played 10 or 15 yards away from the centre-backs, leaving too much space, forcing the centre-backs to charge out, leaving space in behind.

Last night, though, it looked as if Manuel Pellegrini had told Fernando and Fernandinho to sit just five or six yards in front of the centre-backs. This meant that when Ibrahimovic dropped, he was dropping straight onto the defensive midfielders, making it harder to bring team-mates into play. And because Ibrahimovic was dropping onto Fernando and Fernandinho, that made the City centre-backs’ minds up for them: they knew not to rush out to win the ball, but to hold their positions instead.

That defensive quartet have not played too many games together this season, and did not all play as a four in any of City’s worst defeats. Otamendi and Mangala have improved as the season has gone on. City also benefited, I think, from not having Yaya Toure in that two, as he no longer has the legs to come back and defend after running forward to attack. Fernando and Fernandinho were far more disciplined.

A City team with De Bruyne, David Silva and Sergio Aguero in is always going to score goals. It was the fact that they kept a clean sheet last night, against a PSG side full of goals, that will give them the most pride.