Grealish quietly crucial
Jack Grealish wasn't nearly as involved in the exciting stuff in the second leg of Manchester City's Champions League win over Bayern Munich, there were no crucial goal involvements this time around but his contributions were still just as important. As Pep Guardiola said about him earlier in the season when he was struggling, he isn't in the team for just goals and assists.
Instead, what Grealish did so excellently in the Allianz Arena was repeatedly take the sting out of the match. The number of times he picked up the ball and inevitably found himself tripped up with a free-kick won was bordering on ridiculous. Every time it just whittled down the seconds and subdued a raucous atmosphere.
In the final minutes of the game, as Bayern attempted one last flurry after leveling the scores, City wobbled a touch and it wasn't until Grealish took the ball did they calm down. He got possession, played a nice one-two with Julian Alvarez and then ran rings around several defenders, nutmegging one, before finally being hauled down. It optimised the crucial, if understated, job he had done all night in an incredible shift.
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Ederson continues to show improvement
Criticism of Ederson earlier in 2023 appeared massively overblown but the goalkeeper appears to have taken it to heart as there has been a clear improvement in how he handles one-on-one situations. Just like James Maddison on Saturday, Leroy Sane raced through on goal and only had the goalkeeper to beat but didn't convert.
Ederson, usually so eager and proactive coming off his line, on both occasions showed great restraint and patience, choosing instead to smartly position himself to tighten the angle of the shot and then stand up to the attacker until the last possible moment. Sane missed the target but the Brazilian did well to make the chance harder than it could have been and a goal that could have swung the tie the other way didn't come to pass.
With several other good saves as well, Ederson isn't getting criticised anymore.
Lesson to take into Madrid
Just as they did in the final 15 minutes against Leicester, City got away with giving away a lot of chances (despite some good defensive work as well) to Bayern through a combination of Ederson's improvement and their opponent's poor decision-making in the penalty area. As well as a nice sprinkling of luck.
You're bound to concede some chances against the best teams in Europe and everyone needs some good fortune every now and then to lift the trophy but City must tread carefully when they face Real Madrid. Two of their four Champions League semi-final defeats, including last year's, have come against Los Blancos.
Madrid are masters of the competition and proved themselves to be clinical with the likes of Karim Benzema, Vinicius and Rodrygo in attack. They won't pass up so many good opportunities so City need to ensure they don't concede as many.
The downside to Stones in midfield
John Stones has been a revelation since taking up the defender-to-midfielder role in recent weeks and has played a crucial role in City's unbeaten streak. Yet, the pitfalls of the difficult task were exposed at points against Bayern, especially in the first half.
The Bundesliga champions were always going to go guns blazing at City as they tried to overturn an almost insurmountable deficit and they got into enough good positions to worry City more than they managed to do. Bayern were repeatedly using their unparalleled pace to get in behind City, who haven't looked as open or frazzled in quite some time.
The home side were pressing high, winning the ball and transitioning forward so quickly that Stones was repeatedly unable to move back into the defence as he usually does when the side is out of possession, leaving the back line stretched. Bayern's lack of cutting edge and the quality of City's other defenders and goalkeeper meant they survived, but a weakness to the tactic was certainly laid bare.
Bad timing for an Ake injury
The only dark cloud to be cast over the game was the injury suffered by Nathan Ake. The Dutchman clearly pulled his hamstring while stretching to control the ball under no pressure and immediately slumped to the floor. He was taken off and it certainly doesn't look good.
Though Ake struggled at times with the lightning speed of Leroy Sane and Kingsley Coman, he has been excellent in pretty much every other game and has become pivotal to how City play. Losing him at any time would be bad but a week before the potentially title-deciding clash with Arsenal is really bad luck. All City can do is hope it isn't as bad as it looked.
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