City Watch: Blues bow out of Champions League

Manchester City had another week of crucial games in multiple competitions this week, one of which had some incredible controversy surrounding some of the decisions from the officials.

Before I move onto the Real Madrid game on Tuesday night, City travelled to East London to face West Ham United. 

The Hammers are fighting to stay in the Premier League, and after a draw to one of their rivals, Nottingham Forest, in our previous league game, a win was much needed.

The whole game was generally very passive, neither team really seemed to get out of second gear, but just after the 30 minute mark, City made their impact through Bernardo Silva who scored from what looked to be a cross, I’m sure he’ll claim he meant it as the ball looped over the West Ham keeper.

Just four minutes later, Hammers defender, Mavropanos scored from a corner, another occasion where Donnarumma’s only real weakness was exposed; dealing with an aerial ball from a corner.

Rayan Cherki made an appearance off the bench in the second half, and the game flipped on his head. 

Suddenly, we were creating good chances and looked like we were going to steal the points. 

This turned out to be too little too late, as City drew their second league game in a row.

I cannot understand why Pep is refusing to start Rayan Cherki, especially in the big games. 

He has obviously taken my opinion on board, because he was named in the starting XI against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

City were 3-0 down going into the second leg after getting dismantled by an incredible Federico Valverde performance at the Bernabeu last week. 

The Blues knew they had to win by four clear goals to go through without extra time or penalties. 

This isn’t something that’s out of the question, we beat the Spaniards three years ago by four goals in the Treble Season at home, but we all know that was a completely different team.

We started the game in dominant fashion, with the first 15-20 minutes providing fabulous opportunities to score, but the deadlock wasn’t broken. 

Then, just after the 20 minute mark, Vinicius Junior originally looked offside when he broke through, which led to one of the most frustrating moments we’ve had in Europe.

Real Madrid had a shot from close range which Bernardo blocked with what looked like his chest, but after Vinicius was ruled onside, Silva clearly moved his arm towards the ball to stop a goal.

He was sent off and Madrid were awarded a penalty, which Vinicius Junior scored, giving the Spanish side a four goal lead and leaving City with ten men.

The chances continued to come for the Blues despite the fact we were a man light, and Haaland finally beat Courtois just before half time to give us a glimmer of hope. 

This materialised into absolutely nothing, as City couldn’t find anymore creativity in the second period and were knocked out of Europe by the Spanish side once again.

Just one game remains before the international break, and its a big one, Arsenal in the Carabao Cup Final on Sunday. 

The result is not only for a trophy, but could play a huge mental part in who wins the Premier League this season.