Manchester City: How Players Rated Against Bayern Munich

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WOW. What a finish — straight out of 2011/2012. In case you missed it, Sergio Aguero scored a hat-trick to drag Manchester City into a more favorable position come their huge Champions League decider against Roma. And yes, I now believe Sergio Aguero is the best player to have ever lived — just like I did in the hours following that famous QPR game.

DEFENSE:

Joe Hart: 6.5 – Caught out for the first goal, but could do little about the second which looped over him thanks to Lewandowski’s shoulder. Did well to deny Sebastian Rode early on; the game could have been very different if he hadn’t.

Bacary Sagna: 6.5 – Was decent in dealing with Ribery, who did often drift inside and swap wings with Robben. His relative lack of pace saw him burned by Bernat a few times, but he linked up quite well with Navas like Zabaleta would’ve. His main problem was his part in both Bayern goals, where he failed to pick up Dante, and didn’t attack the ball as he should’ve for each respectively.

Decent going forward but partly to blame for conceding, Sagna had a mixed game for the Sky Blues.

Vincent Kompany: 8 – Solid as ever and didn’t look uncomfortable like he over the weekend. Always turns up in big games — always. When the other side really presses, he provides a strength and calm that City seem to lack in Europe.

Eliaquim Mangala: 7.5 – Funny that the City signing — most synonymous with cracking under — pressure pretty much thrived against one of the world’s best sides. Not great when dribbling the ball, but can play a few sweet passes when needed. His power in the air and his blistering pace were also greatly appreciated against Robben and Lewandowski.

Gael Clichy: 8 – Followed up a nearly man of the match performance at the weekend, with a strong performance against Bayern. Was surprisingly great when defending, and did his best to provide from the wings, which didn’t lead to much success for any City player.

MIDFIELD:

Jesus Navas: 7 – Navas seems to enjoy himself more when up against a quick left back, than when up against a technically strong one. It provides him with the opportunity to take them on — as it’s his main asset, though he doesn’t seem to recognize it. Did better when drifting in though, as his crosses were very inconsistent — as usual. Still an improvement from the weekend I think.

Fernando: 7 – Looked a bit unsure when diving into tackles, which was surprising given his partiality to doing so up till now. Still looks prone to slipping up any second, but was a nice strong link between the midfield and defense.

Fernando tries to make his way past Bayern midfielder, Hojberg.

James Milner: 8 – Consistency should be his middle name. Looks a natural no matter where he’s deployed on the pitch. Didn’t have one of his quiet-but-headline making games, but certainly helped City regain possession when Bayern were toying with them.

Samir Nasri: 6.5 – Much like the weekend, there wasn’t as much Nasri-esque lethargy, but unlike the weekend, this wasn’t coupled with great play. Did his best to try penetrate the airtight Bayern defense, but just couldn’t make a big impact.

Frank Lampard: 8.5 – Not only does Lampard add a wealth of experience to any side he plays in; it’s becoming more and more evident that he also provides a world-class, orgasmic arsenal of passes. Frequently played the diagonal ball out to Navas, and each one was perfect. He’s not content to sit back and be the team’s resident old wise man…he goes on the attack, and got close a few times as a result. Best signing City made this year.

ATTACK:

Sergio Aguero: 9.5…or 10 – What can I say about Sergio Aguero? I’ve ran out of superlatives by now, but it still suffices to say that Aguero is definitely one of the top three players in the world right now. Although it could be argued that there’s bias in that statement, the fact that he stands out in such a star-studded team is testament to his immense ability.

He got caught offside a few times, and it didn’t look like he was having a great night, but he simply had to decide to switch it on and score a hat trick against one of the world’s best teams to get City out of their self-inflicted hole. Easy.

Sergio Aguero is becoming known as City’s one man team by some, but as long as he keeps up his scoring run, us fans won’t care.

SUBS:

Stevan Jovetic: 7.5 – Really helped Aguero’s pursuits with some neat passes and flicks. Livens City up every time he steps out on the pitch.

Pablo Zabaleta: 7.5 – Proved why he’s an Etihad favourite with some of the whole-hearted tackles he’s known for. Sagna was looking tired when Pablo replaced him, and it just felt right again with him there.

Martin Demichelis: N/A – I’m not even sure if he came on. Did he? The commentator said something about him but I was too busy celebrating to see. I’m sure if he did come on he did absolutely brilliant in those 30 seconds.

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