Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho has blamed himself for the team’s Champions League loss to Lyon on Wednesday night. Pep Guardiola’s team was beaten 2-1 by their Group F opponents. At one point Manchester City trailed Lyon 2-0 before embarking on a comeback that ended just short.
Manchester City midfielder takes the blame for Champions League loss to Lyon
Following Manchester City’s loss, Fernandinho claimed his mistakes led to Lyon’s goals. Maxwel Cornet’s opener in the 26th minute came on the counterattacker after Fernandinho gave the ball away.
Fernandinho was again guilty of giving the ball away cheaply in the build-up to Lyon’s second goal. Nabil Fekir tallied the French team’s second just before halftime.
“It’s a tough group, I never thought it was going to be easy and Lyon showed that,” Fernandinho said.
“We had a first half to forget with some mistakes by myself and in the second half, we tried to take over, to recover the result but it was too late.
“We have to be humble now and go to Hoffenheim to try and win there – and the other four games as well.”
Lyon used similar tactics to the ones employed by Liverpool in last season’s Champions League quarterfinals. On that occasion, Manchester City were defeated over two legs by Liverpool. Lyon based their approach at the Etihad on Liverpool’s blueprint. Something other teams may do in this year’s competition.
Manchester City humbled
Manchester City have been tagged as the Champions League favourites. However, Wednesday night’s performance show there is still plenty for the team work on.
Manager Guardiola served a touchline ban and spent the evening watching the match from the stands. Assistant coach Mikel Arteta manned the touchline, but couldn’t see the team to victory.
“I have no idea. The reality is Pep wasn’t here and we lost the game,” Arteta said after the match. “If Pep would have been on the touchline I can’t tell you if we’d have won 5-0 or lost.
“We were very aware of Lyon’s strengths and weaknesses. They were well prepared. We weren’t prepared to be 2-0 down at the break, but you have to react.
“There is zero margin for errors in the Champions League – you make a mistake and you are punished. If you don’t win duels, play simple balls, you will suffer – today was another example of that.
“Sometimes in a new competition you have to get on track. The start wasn’t good. We didn’t feel the flow around the team.”
Manchester City will play Hoffenheim in Germany on October 2nd in their second Champions League fixture this season. Hoffenheim finished 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine. Twice Shakhtar came back to draw level with Hoffenheim.
Was Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho at fault for the team’s loss or were there other players deserving of blame? Have your say!