Manchester City advanced to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a 1-0 win last night over Olympiacos. Phil Foden’s strike at the half hour was enough to beat an opposing team who did not manage a single shot on target.
Here are five things we learned from the game …
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Qualification guaranteed
For the eighth consecutive season, Manchester City have qualified for the group stage. The task of Pep Guardiola and his team is now to take it to the next level and go further than what we have done before under the Catalan boss. The constant elimination from the quarterfinals has to stop and if we can overcome this particular mental barrier, we have every chance of winning it all.
Qualifying early also gives Guardiola a great chance to rest key players in the remaining two match weeks and keep them cool for further competitions. We have already seen Wednesday night, without Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker, the rest of the workforce is more than capable of seeing this type of game.
Phil MUST start over – obviously!
Stating the obvious here, but Phil Foden is by far our second best option as a central midfielder yet. Bar Kevin De Bruyne, no other midfielder in our team produces the offensive threat he makes and he needs to be rewarded for his good performances.
Even with his goal, he had a sense of goal to know if he was in the right position, Sterling had the ability to choose him. If he started every week, I’m sure the kid nicknamed the “Stockport Iniesta” would score at least 10 or more goals per season.
Simply put, he should be the first name on the roster against Burnley.
Important playing time for Mendy and Stones
Getting a good amount of playing time in Greece was extremely important for John Stones and Benjamin Mendy. With a grueling schedule of matches to come, both players are going to be extremely important.
I thought overall they both had really strong games. Mendy was replaced naturally by Oleksandr Zinchenko just 20 minutes from time after returning from injury, while Stones finished 90.
The Englishman in particular looked very composed alongside Ruben Dias and kept everything in place in what was a constant Manchester City attack. Mendy at times showed a threat on the left, but his entire game was once again very orderly.
Dias is improving game by game
I think the biggest compliment I can give Ruben Dias right now is that I don’t even notice he’s there. Manchester City’s latest signing fits like a glove in this camp and all the partners he has played with have apparently benefited from it.
On Wednesday night, on countless occasions in difficult areas, the Portuguese defender managed to maneuver and neutralize any kind of danger that Olympiacos posed. It was a confident and professional performance from one of my best players of the season so far.
Still no goals
Now, I’ve told you about the good sides, but let’s not forget the obvious – we’re still not scoring goals.
It’s frustrating to see 22 unconverted shots in more than one goal, and it’s an issue that needs to be addressed quickly. I think we were very lucky that Olympiacos were content with a one-goal loss, and against any other team we could have headed for more lost points.
Some personnel changes seemed to create more chances to get shots on goal, but more often than not the final pass or the finish is what lets us down.
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You can follow Harry on Twitter here: @harryasiddall
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