Moment of madness raises two unthinkable selection dilemmas for Man City vs Real Madrid
Having already fallen behind, Manchester City were living dangerously at Selhurst Park. Kevin De Bruyne's wonderful equaliser ensured parity but the Blues were ropey at the back and Crystal Palace sensed an opportunity.
They had already hit the bar on the break through Jordan Ayew and when City couldn't clear another attack, Rodri stepped in to seemingly restore some calm. Except he did exactly the opposite.
In passing back to goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, Rodri hadn't seen goalscorer Jean-Philippe Mateta directly in front of the German. Ortega had to act quickly, pulling off a smart Cruyff-turn in front of his own goal to avert a calamitous second for the hosts. It was footwork that Ederson, on the bench, would have been proud of.
Man City player ratings vs Crystal Palace as Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne star
Pep Guardiola bold gambles help Man City add to Real Madrid nerves
Pep Guardiola admitted his side were not as 'solid' in defence as they usually are, putting that down to the mental toll of playing twice in two-and-a-half days. He warned that such a schedule will make things extremely difficult to retain their treble -rating the likelihood at 'almost, almost no chance'.
Rodri was off the pace at Palace but Guardiola denied the influential Spaniard was more tired or overworked than anyone else in the team. "Normally the players look tired when the team is not playing good. Did you see tiredness in the second half with Rodri? Not at all," he said. "In the first half he was so tired, he was missing too much, our process was not good. He was in positions he shouldn’t be.
"In the second half he was more there and the result was better, 2-1… in that moment you are not tired. At 0-1 you are tired. Football is
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