Manchester City winger Jack Grealish has come under criticism from former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger following Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final defeat to Real Madrid.
City crashed out of the semi-finals of the Champions League in rather dramatic circumstances at the Estadio Bernabeu. Pep Guardiola’s side were leading 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate late on courtesy of Riyad Mahrez. Brazilian winger Rodrygo scored twice in the 90 th minute to take the tie to extra-time.
The Champions League’s top scorer this season, Karim Benzema, had his say on the clash in extra-time. His penalty, that he won himself after being fouled by Ruben Dias in the penalty area, was converted to give Real a 3-1 win on the night and a 6-5 victory on aggregate, with the Madrid giants taking on Liverpool in the final later this month in Paris.
Rodrygo got his second of the game to level the scores on aggregate and take Real into extra-time after heading in a cross from Spanish right back Dani Carvajal.
And Wenger, who managed Arsenal between 1996 and 2018 in a run that led to three Premier League title wins and reaching the 2006 Champions League final, slammed Grealish for letting Carvajal get past him too easily and claimed incidents similar to Rodrygo’s second goal were ultimately why City lost the tie.
"When you look at 1-1, when Grealish is against Carvajal, he is passed easily, too easily. He must absolutely fight to stop that cross,” Wenger told bein SPORT.
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"You do not want the ball in the box, anything can happen when everybody goes forward. That is where City did not secure the game, defending on the sides. Because they conceded, even when you look when Benzema gave the ball back, they didn't really attack the ball the defenders, they made big mistakes.
"When you're a manager and you lose a game, you go home and always think, "what have I done wrong?". The second thing I would say is that what is surprising for me is that this team from Madrid, when they need an answer to a problem, they always find a solution.
"Let's not forget they scored six goals against City, they scored six against Chelsea. It is not always the case that City concede six goals in two games. They have something special."
City’s hopes of a first ever Champions League crown faded on Wednesday, but they could still clinch the Premier League title this season, which would be their sixth in the space of a decade.
Heading into their final four games of their league campaign, City sit top of the Premier League table, but remain just a point clear over Liverpool in second.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool still have a chance of completing an unprecedented quadruple this season. They have already won the Carabao Cup and as well as being in contention for a second Premier League crown in three years, are also in the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League this month .
