Manchester City 7-0 (10-2 on agg.) Schalke 04
Every single soul that decided to watch this Champions League tie between Manchester City and Schalke knew that they were going to be treated to a one-sided show. It was expected that the Sky Blues would cruise past their guests and make it to the next round of the prestigious competition.
However, what many of these fans didn’t realise was the margin by which the Sky Blues would win over their guests. A couple of Manchester City vs Schalke predictions only thought of the Sky Blues clearly establishing their dominance while taking it easy in the second leg.
What happened instead was an incredible drubbing that allowed the entire world to witness just how great of a club Manchester City actually are. If there’s any question as to whether they can actually win the Champions League this year, people would point to this game.
The Sky Blues are favourites to win the entire competition, and many SBOBET tips expect them to make an impressive run to the finals.
Highlights of the game
There were questions raised regarding Manchester City’s condition after their rather questionable performance against Watford in the Premier League. Given how they struggled to score a goal in the first half, some critics thought that the same thing would happen to them when they play Schalke.
Schalke probably tried doing what both the Hornets and Bournemouth did to their advantage and keep the Citizens from scoring in the first half. Their very defensive 4-1-4-1 is a commitment to the team’s philosophy of making it to the second half and try to score a miracle that will better their chances in the second half.
However, the tie was eventually broken in the 35th minute when Jeffrey Bruma took Bernardo Silva down inside the penalty box. Some travelling Schalke fans will protest that move as a dive, but they could do nothing as Sergio Aguero tricked Ralf Fahrmann to clearing the goal and chipping the spot-kick in.
City then secured their ticket to the next round when Aguero and Sterling connected to show the difference in class between the two sides. The England international corralled a long ball close to the right post. Without doing as much as a look, he made a backheel pass to Aguero. City’s all-time leading scorer wasted no time in aiming as close to the post as possible before getting it past Fahrmann.
The referee pointed to the VAR to check if there were any fouls made on the play, and the entire Etihad were on their feet when the referee honoured the call. The celebrations continued when Leroy Sane beat the offside trap and got a low-driven ball past Fahrmann for the third time in the 42nd minute.
Sane, who was excluded from the Watford game to the chagrin of City fans, showed off in the second half why he should not be excluded from the starting XI ever again. He threaded a beautiful low cross to Raheem Sterling on the right, and the England international coolly converted that shot. He did it again in the 71st minute with Bernardo Silva finishing the goal.
He completed his hat-trick of assists in the 78th minute when he produced a killer through pass that freed Phil Foden. He rounded the keeper and got his shot in. Gabriel Jesus rubbed the final score a bit more when he fired a beautiful curler just inside the box that went underneath Fahrmann’s armpits.
It was a meltdown for the Schalke defence, but it was a display of pure class for the Sky Blues. I’m not sure if we’ll see another Champions League 2019 highlights package as fantastic and one-sided as this.
Key statistics
City not only got an outstanding 10-2 aggregate score against Schalke, but they also matched an impressive Champions League record. They are the second team to finish a Champions League knockout game with a seven-goal win margin. The only other club to do this was Bayern Munich who pulled it off twice.
There was nothing the Etihad crowd could ask for as City succeeded in almost every aspect of the game. They had 72.3% of possession time, they had 15 shot attempts with 11 of those being on target. They also had a higher passing success rate, more dribbles and aerials won.
City’s attacking three was nothing short of sublime in this match. Aguero got an impressive 8.7, Sterling finished with a 9.5, and Sane got a perfect 10.
What’s next?
It’s now back to domestic duties for Manchester City as they try to achieve the improbable quadruple. They should have no problems dispatching Swansea in the FA Cup, so we can expect the Sky Blues making the quarter-finals. They also have an easy league schedule as they are set to square off against Fulham, Cardiff City, and Crystal Palace.
Schalke are now ion an undesirable seven-game winless run, and their losing streak is now up to five. With Champions League now out of the way, Domenico Tedesco’s men can now focus on avoiding relegation. They will have a tough match against RB Leipzig, but their next games against Hannover and Werder Bremen must be won if they want to stay up.
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