Otherwise, though, David Hytner’s match report is with us.
Which means we’re done here. Thanks all for your company and comments – peace.
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You can relieve a very fun night – and Scott Murray is still chatting to you – here:
So Liverpool, Arsenal and Villa all move through to the last 16, while City and Celtic will face one of Bayern or Real Madrid in the playoffs. Atalanta and Milan drop out of the top eight, while Stuttgart, panelled by PSG, drop out of the top 24.
Talking of which, here’s Uefa’s bracket. The Swiss format needs Manuel Akanji to understand it, but City will meet either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Cheering and bouncing in the Brugge end – confirmation, they’re into the playoffs.
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The final league table:
Full time scores
Aston Villa 4-2 Celtic
Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Sparta Prague
Bayern Munich 3-1 Slovan Bratislava
Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Brest 0-3 Real Madrid
Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan
Girona 1-2 Arsenal
Internazionale 3-0 Monaco
Juventus 0-2 Benfica
Lille 6-1 Feyenoord
Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge
PSV 3-2 Liverpool
Red Bull Salzburg 1-4 Atletico Madrid
Sporting 1-1 Bologna
Sturm Graz 1-0 RB Leipzig
Stuttgart 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain
Young Boys 0-1 Red Star Belgrade
Liverpool have lost 3-2 to PSV, losing their 100% record in the process. But they finish top of the table and are currently the best side around – though there are a fair few others good enough to knock them out.
Matteo Kovacic is happy City are through, saying whoever comes next will be difficult. It was a game with a lot of pressure and the first half wasn't bad, they just couldn’t score – generous – and Brugge scored with their first attack – not true. But in the end they played well.
City are a good team, he says, with great character, then collects the POTM award – generous, I’d say, it was Savinho who turned things.
Oh Marcus, how did it come to this?
You were the future once.
Elsewhere, Raheem Sterling has just missed a penalty, Arsenal 2-1 up in Girona; Liverpool still trail the now-10-man PSV; and Morgan Rogers has just put Villa 4-2 up against Celtic, completing his hat-trick in the process.
Scott Murray has all the details, and much more.
City, we’re told, will – as things stand – meet Real Madrid or Bayern Munich next. This is the opposite of what this new format was seeking to achieve – meaningless matches between rich clubs good, early knockout meetings bad – but that’s the thing, isn’t it? However hard bad people try to make it worse, it’s so bloody wonderful it still comes up smelling of liniment.
Well that was fun. Biggup Brugge, who were really good for 45, and well done City for righting themselves and, once they started playing, getting it done in short order.
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FULL TIME: Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge
It was close for a bit, but City were too good in the end. They’re into the playoffs, and as soon as it’s over in Stuttgart, Brugge will be too.
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90+1 min The Brugge fans are absolutely having it, PSG sending them through; City have had possession for 10 straight minutes.
90 min I was wrong: City can get Madrid in the playoff, Bayern too. One additional minute.
88 min My 11-year-old has just visited to advise that I’ve forgotten to tuck her in. She must be exhausted.
86 min Savinho has been excellent since coming on, his desire to commit defenders a lot of what was missing before half-time. He and Gvardiol could form a pretty useful partnership.
84 min Looking like Real Madrid v Man City in the playoffs....” fantasises Ian Sargeant, but sadly Uefa and the rich clubs don’t work that way. I don’t think that’s possible, though the official explanation couldn’t be more obfuscating.
82 min City knock it about dead slowly. They’ve have feared the worst at half-time, but as soon as they added pace out wide, allowing them to get more pace through the middle, and sped up their passing and movement, Brugge couldn’t handle them.
80 min I get why he did it, but Hayen’s changes killed this game for his team. Still, they’ve been very impressive, both tonight and across the piece; whoever gets them in the playoffs will have a serious contest to address.
GOAL! Manchester City 3-1 Club Brugge (Savinho 78)
First he changed the game, now he’s finished the game. Stones snaps a gorgeous pass from middle to left and Savinho collects on the charge, chesting from outside the box into the box, Skortas forlornly trying to haul him back. Then, as the ball drops, he hits it well enough, close enough to the keeper so that he can’t get hand to feet, and that is surely that: City will be in the playoffs.
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74 min On the touchline, Guardiola is going through it. It must be very weird, and also amazing, having him as your boss.
73 min Haaland menaces Jashari and wins it high, galumphing into the box, opening his body … and telegraphing a finish that Mignolet saves. But the ball bounces out to Savinho, on the edge, who passes firmly goalwards … only for Mechele, who’s played extremely well, to slide into a match-saving block!
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72 min At Villa Park, a mixed few minutes for Ollie Watkins. First, he puts Villa back in front at 3-2; second, he slips while taking a penalty, sending the ball into his standing foot and nowhere near goal. Join Scott Murray for more.
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71 min Triple change for Brugge, which perhaps shows how Nicky Hayen is thinking. He removes his three strikers, Talbi, Tzolis and jutgla, to send on Vetlesen, Vermant and Skoras. He might just be thinking about the weekend match away to Antwerp.
69 min Hold tight Brugge, who are still giving it plenty. Talbi finds space down the right, shifts it to create a shooting lane, and hammers towards the near post, forcing Ederson to make the save. The corner comes to nowt.
67 min City were so soporific in the first half and they’re back playing slowly now, but I’m not sure about that. If they don’t score again, they might find themselves hauled back; if they keep trying to score, they could win by two or three.
65 min Brugge will know they’re as good as through, so it’ll take a lot for them to find an equaliser here. But if they can stay in the game, City will get nervous, and the gaps at the back will remain.
GOAL! Manchester City 2-1 Club Brugge (Ordonez own goal 62)
Down the left, Gvardiol finds Savinho and goes in behind for the return, his mate nipping inside to create time and angle before jabbing a cunning pass with the outside of hit foot. So Gvardiol leathers a low cross and young Ordonez, hitherto excellent, gets the fear sliding in and sending the ball past Mignolet though Mechele is covering behind him. As things stand, both sides are going into the last 32, and Guardiola’s half-time change and lecture has changed this game.
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59 min But here come Brugge again! Tzolis collects Vanaken’s backheel when Nunes misses with his slide, nashing through the middle and turning inside to pilfer a yard from Akanji, before sliding a shot back the way he came … just wide of the post. The visitors look like scoring every time they attack!
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58 min De Bruyne tries an outswinger, but Mechele is stronger than Gvardiol and heads clear; City collect the loose ball and go again, De Bruyne thrashing a low shot that Mignolet shoves away.
58 min City win another corner, this time down the right…
55 min But City are again caught on the counter, Tozlis again rampaging through the middle and holding on to the ball, back to goal inside the box, as Gvardiol holds him around the waist. He lays back to Vanaken from almost on the ground, but by this time Ederson is right on top of him to block … then the flag goes up, but there was no offside. Meantime, on the touchline, Guardiola pogos about asking for someone to be booked. This is pleasingly frantic now.
GOAL! Manchester City 1-1 Club Brugge (Kovacic 53)
This is very competently done. Kovacic picks up the ball on halfway and surges through the centre, no one attempting to unload him so, from 20 yards, he threads a precise, considered effort, through Ordonez’s legs and past the unsighted Mignolet. It’s been coming.
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52 min And here he is, found by Bernardo after Mechele blocks desperately and taking a touch before lashing high.
50 min There’s a bit more energy about City now and, with Savinho out wide, Foden’s able to roam centrally. And, though he’s best renowned for his skill at pace, he’s also got a terrific instinct for where the ball’s going to drop in the box, so that should be a good change.
49 min If Brugge’s number 8 scores, we’ll need a CITY CAN’T FIND TZOLIS headline.
47 min City win a corner, easily cleared, then Savinho earns another which goes short to De Bruyne. He comes inside, teases a delectable ball into the middle, and YE’VE GOTTAE SCORE! Stones lets it hit his head, cushioning back whence it came … and wide of the post! That’s the best chance City have had, by far, and though they ought now to be level, the ease of creation and change of impetus suggests there’ll be more along shortly.
46 min We go again, Savinho on for Gundogan as we speculated. City have 45 minutes and change to save their season.
Half-time scores
Aston Vila 2-2 Celtic
Barcelona 0-0 Atalanta
Levekrusen 1-0 Sparta Prague
Bayern 1-0 Slovan Bratislava
Dortmund 2-0 Shakhtar
Brest 0-1 Real Madrid
Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 Milan
Girona 1-2 Arsenal
Inter 2-0 Monaco
Juve 0-1 Benfica
Lille 2-1 Feyenoord
PSV 3-2 Liverpool
Salzburg 0-3 Atlético
Sporting -1 Bologna
Sturm Graz -3 PSG
Young Boys 0-0 Cervena zvezda
Gosh, PSV now lead Liverpool 3-2! Your half-time scores are coming up..
City have, I’m afraid, been very poor tonight; they’ve had loads of the ball but created nothing, deficient in ideas, zest and physical power. Brugge, on the other hand, have been strong, organised and enterprising, well worth their lead for their disciplined defending and direct counter-attacking. A fair bit needs to change for this match to change.
HALF-TIME: Manchester City 0-1 Club Brugge
City need to score twice – at least – or they’re going out. With PSG 3-0 up in Stuttgart, Brugge are as good as there.
GOAL! Manchester City 0-1 Club Brugge (Onyedika 45)
Now then! Mechele breaks up a City attack, challenging Gundogan, and Vanaken breaks through the middle, finding Jutgla, who diddles Nunes as easily as we feared, slides a low pass to the far side of the box, and Onyedika punishes a finish low inside the near post! The warning signs were there and City are in deep!
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44 min Harvey Elliott has put Liverpool ahead in Eindhoven; likewise Ethan Nwaneri for Arsenal in Girona – and that goal is worth a look-in.
42 min So what might City do to change things? I’d be wanting crosses and bodies in the box, so would take off a midfielder, probably Kovacic, and send on a winger, Savinho or Grealish, and push Foden closer to Haaland.
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41 min Brugge are growing in confidence and looked pretty sorted from the start. Jahsari carries forward and has options, but he opts to shoot, hitting low and hard, but too close to Ederson.
39 min Adam Idah has just scored his second goal in two minutes and it’s now Villa 2-2 Celtic. Scott Murray will fill you in…
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38 min PSV have equalised against Liverpool; Celtic have pulled one back to trail Villa 2-1; and Jorginho has equalised for Arsenal at Girona, via penalty.
36 min De Cuyper raids down the left when found by Jashari’s lovely flick, and his square-pass into the box finds Tzolis, who laces a shot … that Akanji does really well to block. City have had all the possession, but it’s Brugge who’ve had the clearer sights of goal.
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34 min Again, Foden running in behind offers City a route into the box, and Gvardiol finds him well, but his square flick is too weak to reach Haaland. Even so, Brugge might’ve panicked and wellied clear, but instead they calmly pass out of danger.
33 min A bit of possession for Brugge. It’s been a while, and City will know that these situations are, counter-intuitively, what they want, because anything that offers space in behind is better than trying to find a route through 679 defenders camped on the edge of the box or deeper.
30 min Nunes, who’s playing as a pretty orthodox right-back, collects a beautiful pass from De Bruyne that megs De Cuyper, but Tzolis chases back to make the challenge. This is very impressive from Brugge; Mignolet hasn’t had a serious shot to save and as things stand, they’re going through and City are going out.
29 min Liverpool now lead 1-0 at PSV; Arsenal now trail at 1-0 at Girona.
27 min De Bruyne is on the left of central-midfield at the moment; I’m not sure why, as it means City lose his delivery form the right. But it’s Haaland on the ball now, looking for a shooting lane and finding none, so he spreads to Foden, whose hard, low cross is collected by Mignolet.
25 min City are improving, finding more space and winning balls in messy challenges. And after one such, Haaland pokes De Bruyne away at inside-left; he lamps a rising shot high and wide of the near post.
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24 min De Bruyne picks up a loose ball, won initially by Gvardiol, down the left. He cuts back for Bernardo, who sweeps goalwards, but a deflection takes the shot wide. The ref originally signals corner before amending the call to a goalkick, the ball having come off Haaland.
22 min Brugge will be very happy with their first quarter. They’ve allowed City nowt.
20 min City are getting nearer. Gundogan drills a cross-kick to the far side of the box and Haaland’s up! But instead of going for goal, he heads back across to no one – though, in fairness, the angle was against him scoring.
18 min “Speaking of United’s black kit,” says Paul McGrory, “my favourite opinion on it was Ferguson claiming that the black brought some kind of darkness over Cantona, as lots of his red cards came wearing that outfit. Nothing to do with south London racists or close marking by preposterously ponytailed defenders. And to think, it was only Ferguson’s second-most risible kit-related deflection.”
And, dare we venture, capricious temperament.
16 min Nunes drives forward, finds Bernardo and continues his run, picking up the return and drilling a cross that Mignolet shovels away. City then sustain the attack, Bernardo flicking on De Bruyne’s dink for Gundogan to slot home … but then the flag goes up and replay shows he was well offside.
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15 min But now Brugge win it in midfield and finds Tzolis … who slides in behind … to no one.
14 min Better from City, a ball over the top seeking Foden; Ordonez stretches to head away. Seconds later, though, Foden drives at him, makes a shooting angle on the outside, and leathers wide of the neat post.
12 min De Bruyne tries a cross but Ordonez blocks behind, the corner coming to nothing. Thing is, Brugge are making no effort to get up and out, so as soon as the ball is cleared, City pick it up and recommence probing.
11 min “Alan is right, Alexis is wrong,” reckons Mark Hooper. “Do You Believe in Shame?, The Chauffeur, Skin Trade are the top 3. It’s the law.”
Are they the best of the 80s synth-poppers? My sense is aye.
9 min City knock it about but Brugge have their spacing right, forcing their hosts to go wide. I wonder if they might try a bit of wing-play with overlap, because picking a route through the centre won’t be easy.
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9 min Great news for Brugge: PSG lead at Stuttgart. If that remains the case, they’re into the last 32.
7 min City win a corner and Brugge pull everyone back – no doubt partly to defend, but i’m sure also because, Arsenal 03-04-style, you can’t mark men charging at you from their own box. And they clear this ball easily but can’t break, so City build once more.
6 min Again, one touch and Brugge are in behind, this time wider, with Talbi, whose cross is deflected into Ederson’s arms. Elsewhere, Rogers has scored again, so Villa lead Celtic 2-0.
4 min Morgan Rogers has put Villa ahead against Celtic; join Scott Murray for all the latest.
3 min Now then! A flick on and, with City high, Tzolis is away down the left! Really, he should cut in and go for goal himself but he’s got Tzolis inside so cuts back … only to find Gvardiol is well located to block the eventuating shot.
1 min De Bruyne and Haaland sprint in to press, but Brugge are calm in possession and get the ball away from immediate danger. But City soon regain it so the visitors sit in – they’re almost a back five now, with three in front.
1 min Brugge get us going!
Boos from the crowd as the Champions league anthem plays. When will Uefa stop victimising Liddle Ciddy and their billionaire owners?
Here come our teams…
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I see the Gazprom is now the Crypto. Yet again, football is the winner.
“Just to make sure they beat Brugge’s total,” emails Richard Hirst, “Liverpool are throwing in Robertson AND Tsimikas. Andy Gracie will be pleased.”
That makes a grand total of 209 – known by some as the Stockton, California.
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Brugge, of course, know what this competition is all about. To reach the 1978 final, they despatched KuPS, Panathinaikos, Atlético and Juve; not bad.
Guardiola says it’s important to have Stones back as he’s lacking centre-backs; he hopes to get the full 90 out of him. Otherwise, the equation is simple: win and go through, lose and go out.
Mainly, his side are talking about their own performance, not the opposition, and asked what he’ll say before they go out, he says he’s not decided, laughs awkwardly, and disappears.
“Do You Believe in Shame?” wonders Alan Terlep. “Even if you don’t think it’s the best Duran Duran song (it is though), it’s certainly the most applicable to the Champions League.”
Trudat … but the Guardian says nae.
Reminder: you can and should follow tonight’s whole raft of mayham with Scott Murray.
What can be forgotten when discussing the Champions League is that often, the side dancing around with Big Ears wasn’t the best side in the group stages. Maybe, just maybe, City have timed their form, and will be hitting a seam when the serious business starts. They still won’t have Rodri, but they will have a better clue of what to do without him – if they get there.
It’s taken longer than I expected but Andy Gracie has a higher-numbered back four for us: “If Bradley (84) and Quansah (78) are both in Liverpool’s defence that’s 162 straight off the bat. Throw in Robertson or Tsimikas and you’re already way over. Van Dijk’s piddling 4 isn’t even necessary.”
Imagine the face he’d make if you left him out though.
Email! “Club Brugge’s efforts to play out of the back on the left side should be interesting,” reckons Peter Oh. “A game of Simon (Mignolet) - Seys.”
“Why didn’t you hold it?”
“I forgot to say Simon says.”
So where is the game? City will do what they usually do, keeping possession, but I also expect them to get the ball forward more quickly than in previous seasons as they don’t quite have the confidence or quality to work it, but still have insane ability in attack.
Brugge, though, have routes to goal: Tzolis and Vanaken are having superb seasons and if they can outmuscle and outrun city in midfield – and there’s every chance they can – they’ve a chance to take advantage of a ropey back five and, in particular, a midfielder unused to playing full-back. Of course the likeliest outcome is a comfortable City win, but there’ve not been many of those lately.
Brugge rested half a team for their weekend draw with Kortrijk; Meijer, Romero, Skoras, Nielsen, Veltlesen and Nilsson drop out, with Ordonez, De Cuyper, Onyedika, Talbi, Vanaken and Jutgla coming in.
City make two enforced changes to the team which impressed in coming from behind to beat Chelsea: Kusanov and Marmoush are ineligible, so Stones and De Bruyne replace them. I semi-wonder if, in practice, they go three at the back with Nunes inverting into midfield – there’s a real shortage of pace and power as things stands, though a whole lot of nous and skill – and either way, Tzolis, Brugge’s right-winger – who has 19 goal involvements in 33 games so far this season – will be fancying himself to do something.
I wonder if there’s ever been a back four whose numbers add up to more than Brugge’s 168; presumably there has, but good effort nonetheless.
I’m going to write these down, then we’ll wonder what they might mean.
Teams!
Manchester City (4-2-3-1) Ederson; Nunes, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Kovacic, Gundogan; De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden; Haaland. Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Grealish, Savinho, Wright, Alleyne, O’Reilly, Lewis, McAtee
Club Brugge (4-2-3-1): Mignolet; Seys, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper; Onyedika, Jashari; Talbi, Vanaken, Tzolis; Jutgla. Subs: Romero, Vetlesen, Van de Heuvel, Vermant, Nilsson, Skoras, Nielsen, Jackers, Siquet, Spileers, Sabbe.
I mentioned potential winners below, and perhaps the most impressive performance I’ve seen so far came last week when PSG walloped City. Perhaps it was no more than due punishment for perhaps the worst kit of all time, but there was a vibrancy and energy about Paris that felt different.
I remember when Man United first played in black, Ryan Giggs said the players felt unbeatable in the kit, so smart was it. This absolute Digsy’s Dinner of a rig might well have the opposite effect.
It’s incredible really: I’m not sure any British band is as synonymous with the 80s as Duran Duran, and yet their two best tunes came well into the 90s. Stop here for yet more revelatory insight.
Tonight, by the way, it’s Watkins not Duran. If things come undone, the Colombian will, as a reflex, be hungry like the wolf to restore an ordinary world.
Tangentially:
This is what can happen when teams only play one up, they’re not winning the big pots, and there’s a dearth of centre-forwards in the world. I’m not certain Ollie Watkins is really the level Arsenal want, but they need someone and, with Jhon Duran also at Villa Park, every time they kick 0ff, one of them is going to be sat at the side.
Which is to say there are a lot of teams in the playoff and last 16 who, if they turn up, are capable of beating opponents with more money. I guess the likelihood is that, by the last eight and definitely by the last four, it’s the usual names, but don’t rule out some surprises. No one will fancy facing Atalanta or Villa, while Leverkusen also have a chance.
I may receive heat for this hot take, but none of the below are all that are they? Liverpool are good, of course, but they’re not that good; already this season, Barca have lost to Osasuna, Las Palmas and Leganes; yet they’ve clattered Madrid, who generally hang about until someone good does something good, twice; and so on.
As it stands:
Back to the burning kiosk, City have said as follows:
Manchester City FC can confirm that there has been a fire in one of the outside merchandise kiosks, located near the entrance to the Colin Bell West Stand. Emergency services are present at the scene and the fire has now been extinguished. The safety of all attending the match tonight is our top priority, and as such all events planned for West Stand reception have been cancelled, including the welcome event for new players, and the first team arrival.”
Lucky they clarified their identity with an “FC”, we’d not have known who was using City’s X account otherwise.
Seeing as we’re talking USA ’94, here’s one from the annals – you can probably guess how an ex-editor of mine pronounced that final word. I can’t recall many – if any – goals which prompted such uniform shock and joy.
You can follow the fun from around Europe, here, with Scott Murray:
So here’s where I actually planned to start: Rob Smyth’s banging piece about the final night of qualifying for USA ’94.
Welcome to Manchester!
I was about to start elsewhere, but here’s some news from outside the ground, courtesy of Press Association:
An area outside the Etihad Stadium was evacuated after a merchandise stand caught fire ahead of Manchester City’s Champions League game against Club Brugge. Supporters had gathered outside the main reception for a presentation of City’s January signings. The event was suspended as flames took hold of the stand and stewards moved fans away before fire services arrived on the scene. It is unknown at this stage whether the incident will affect the scheduled kick-off time of 8pm.”
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Preamble
When Europe’s Big Clubs, desperate to manufacture artificial excitement for the sake of even more folding green, put heads together together and somehow came up with “the Swiss model”, it seems fair to speculate they had in mind neither a Pop Swatch nor an ailing Manchester City needing a win on the final match-day to avoid early elimination. And yet here we are so here we are, reminded once more that, when good people do good things with good intentions, good outcomes are inevitable. Thanks, lads! Football is the winner!
It’s been a miserable half-season or so for City, the ferocity of their collapse barely believable and entirely unprecedented. But they’ve improved a little in recent weeks, a more transitional style along with the acquisition of Omar Marmoush and return to form of Phil Foden helping rejuvenate a tired side.
Marmoush, though, is ineligible tonight, and Club Brugge are no mugs. They sit 20th in the table, three points above City, having beaten Villa and Sporting, drawn with Juve, and competing well against Milan even after going down to 10. That match, in October, was the last time they were beaten, a period in which City have suffered 10 losses – two of them to Tottenham!
And Brugge have their own stuff going on. If they avoid defeat tonight, they move into the last-32 playoff, and if there’s a winner in the Stuttgart v PSG game, they progress regardless. But if that game, Sporting v Bologna and Juventus v Benfica are draws, Brugge are eliminated should they lose, which is to say they’ll be at it this evening and then some.
Of course, the likelihood is that City find a way – indeed, the entire rigmarole of this format is in place partly to guarantee that happens – and yet…
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
