MANCHESTER, England -- By the time referee Cuneyt Cakir blew the final whistle, Manchester City had gone 318 minutes without conceding a Champions League goal at home.
They had shut out Real Madrid, just as they prevented Paris Saint-Germain and Dynamo Kiev from finding the net. And yet perhaps the most salient statistic, besides the scoreline, was that they recorded a solitary shot on target.
And even that came in the 92nd minute.
Kevin De Bruyne
's free kick brought the crowd to their feet but was saved comparatively comfortably by Real goalkeeper
Keylor Navas
. On a night where there was much to savour for City -- their shrewdness and solidity, their attitude and application -- there was the sense that an opportunity may have been lost.
They will rarely get a better chance to beat Real. Shorn of two of their superstars from the start, with a third lasting only 45 minutes, Real felt a prosaic outfit:
Cristiano Ronaldo
only took the field to sign autographs, his thigh problem preventing his participation; the out-of-favour
James Rodriguez
never left the bench; a labouring
Karim Benzema
did not reappear for the second half. It left
Gareth Bale
with the less-glamorous
Jese
and
Lucas Vazquez
for company. For the most part, Real's second-string attack were handled by
Vincent Kompany
. City's attack were too blunt.
"We were not very creative and we couldn't create clear chances to score," lamented City boss Manuel Pellegrini. "But in terms of intent, we had the most intent to win the game." Intent, yes. Attempts, no. The harshest of observers may argue City overcompensated after the change of mindset. There are times when they have been outclassed on their own turf: by Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. But this was not one of them as purists embraced their pragmatic streak.
"It is hard to keep a clean sheet against such an attacking team," said captain Kompany. "We can be proud of what we have achieved." He marshaled the defence. Full-backs
Gael Clichy
and
Bacary Sagna
played with great positional discipline.
Jesus Navas
can be irritatingly unproductive, but this was a night when his selfless running was helpful.
Fernandinho
was energetic and excellent,
Fernando
his devoted sidekick.
Belatedly, lessons have been learned. Pellegrini, the man who picked a 4-4-2 formation against Barcelona last year, has been too slow to heed some. Finally, City have shown some nous. It has coincided with them making greater progress. The acceptance that two holding midfielders took time, but Pellegrini is a convert now. "We did really well to close them down with the two Brazilians in midfield," he said.
In the last three years when his team have lost to more streetwise sides, Pellegrini has only sporadically struck the right balance between caution and cavalier attacking. Here they showed plenty of nous. Yet Pellegrini may feel himself damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. One who has been deemed too carefree could be accused of being too careful. There were certain similarities with the second leg against Paris Saint-Germain, with the obvious differences that City did not need to find the net then and that De Bruyne still scored.
If there is a criticism, it is that City put in what would be deemed an excellent away performance, except they were at home. They were compact, balanced, efficient and organised. They displayed focus, but not enough forward thrust. Perhaps they were so concentrated on their game plan that they were to slow to recognise this was Real Lite, a glorified second-string attack, Bale apart. The visitors departed satisfied.
"It is a good away result against a team that didn't put us in huge difficulties because they didn't create many chances," said Real manager Zinedine Zidane. A side coached by one of the game's greatest visionaries with the ball at his feet, threatened most from set-pieces. City's frailty when goalkeeper Joe Hart made excellent saves from Casemiro and Pepe showed that as soundly as they defended in open play, they are not a byword for frugality quite yet.
Now City may go to Spain without their premier Spaniard. David Silva's night only lasted 40 minutes, a thigh strain perhaps precluding his participation next Wednesday. "It is quite tough for him to recover in one week," said Pellegrini.
Yet this is an evolving side, shaking off their reliance on the icons of old. Yaya Toure was sidelined, but it is unlikely he would have started anyway. The totem, the talisman, the single most significant player in their rise in the English game now looks a replacement for the defining games. They have a 4-2-3-1 system, a newfound willingness to shield their full-backs and a blueprint for progress on the continental stage, even if Pep Guardiola may rip it up and implement something altogether more ambitious.
Ambition has underpinned City's rise. It has been ever-present in chastening setbacks and stirring triumphs alike. And yet, should Real win at the Bernabeu next Wednesday and City be denied a first Champions League final appearance, perhaps the problem will be that they were not quite ambitious enough when they had the chance.
