City’s Champions League charge is set to boom with Sterling back on the pitch!
An important piece of the Manchester City lineup emerged against Real Madrid After Manchester City drew with West Ham 1-1 last Saturday, Pep Guardiola admitted he made a mistake by not starting Rayan Cherki at the London Stadium. Instead, Antoine Semenyo started in the number ten role against West Ham, a role that doesn’t suit the Ghana international. There was a massive improvement in Manchester City’s attacking play against West Ham when Cherki was finally brought onto the pitch for the final half-hour of that match.
Perhaps that result may have been different if Cherki had started in the role he is ideally suited to play against West Ham. Heading into last night’s UEFA Champions League Round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid, there was no doubt that Rayan Cherki was going to start. Cherki started, and although City went down to a 2-1 defeat and crashed out of the Champions League with a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid, Cherki showed why he must be a first-team regular in this Manchester City side.
Rayan Cherki was superb against Real Madrid as he, alongside Jeremy Doku, tried to will Manchester City to the impossible. Manchester City were up against it from kickoff last night against Real Madrid. Nearly everything had to go right for Pep Guardiola’s side to overturn the 3-0 deficit they faced after their disappointing defeat at the Bernabeu last week.
City had to attack Real Madrid from kickoff to have any chance of coming back into the tie. City began brightly, and although they did give Real Madrid chances on the break, City attacked Real Madrid with real intent in the game’s opening 15 minutes. As City went at Real Madrid, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku set about attempting to pick apart the Real Madrid defence.
If not for some poor finishing, City could have well grabbed an early goal to give themselves a chance at the improbable. Cherki and Doku created a host of openings that weren’t seized upon by their teammates. Rayan Cherki has the ability to fight for the cause which is a valuable trait.
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