The Champions League draw Man City v Dortmund at Etihad saw Pep’s side clinch a last-minute winner resulting in a 2-1 victory on Tuesday. However, the away goal puts the English side at risk of crashing out once again in their next leg.
Proceedings In Man City v Dortmund
This season is Pep Guardiola’s fifth try at the Champions League with Manchester City. However, the manager is yet to get past the quarterfinals.
The 90th-minute goal from Phil Foden arrived just six minutes after Dortmund’s Marco Reus had scored the equalizer. Kevin De Bruyne had opened the scoring in the first half. The lead, although narrow, is also the first time Manchester City has managed to win their quarter-final first leg.
However, the next Man City v Dortmund tie will be a tremulous experience for the men in blue as Dortmund is known for causing upsets at this stage of the tournament. Coach Guardiola stated that winning is always better than drawing and that he expects his team to finish off the tie in Germany.
The Man City v Dortmund was largely dominated by the German side even though Man City managed to eke out the win. Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, and Raheem Sterling had all started on the bench. In a way, Foden rescued Pep from criticism of his team selection.
The refereeing of Ovidiu Hategan was also called into question. A disallowed Jude Bellingham goal 37 minutes into the match added to the questionable decisions taken by the referee in Man City v Dortmund.
Although Bellingham’s goal did not count, his performance in the match is an indicator of the danger that the Dortmund side will possess in the next tie. The Dortmund stars in Haaland and Reus gave as startling of a performance as it was underwhelming from the side of Manchester City. Man City remains the favorites in the next tie, but Pep probably has urgent issues to address before that.