Gabriel Jesus rocks Real
From the first minute, the Real Madrid defence was unsettled. Gabriel Jesus went to press Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao showed more interest in doing anything he could to stop the run, than he did in following the play.
Mind you, they had good reason to be worried. Jesus showed exquisite skill to turn in the box and score Manchester City's second of the night to send the stadium wild.
The rest of us should not have been surprised either as the Brazilian striker showed once more that he is ready to be a key player in City's run-in. If it seemed a shock to play him in the crunch league game against Liverpool earlier this month, six goals and two assists from his last four starts show that a player who may not even be at the Etihad next season could be crucial to their hopes of the big two trophies over the next few weeks.
Also read: Man City and Real Madrid put on a Champions League classic but Blues might have regret
Fernandinho rolls back the years
For all City's blockbuster start, they were in danger of collapsing like a sandcastle against Real Madrid. A defence that was rock solid to deny Atletico a single goal over 180 minutes teetered before Karim Benzema got the visitors back into the tie, and the sight of Fernandinho coming on to replace the injured John Stones — a gamble of a selection that didn't pay off — had City fans wondering if their magnificent start was going to be completely wiped out on the scoreboard.
Enter Fernandinho though, with the most surprising performance since he announced his decision to leave the club in a routine press conference before the quarter-final. The 36-year-old left Vinicius on the floor with a dummied first touch and was soon seen bombing past Riyad Mahrez in an overlap Kyle Walker would have been proud of.
The best came with the run and cross in the second half for Foden's goal, although being beaten by Vinicius minutes later took some of the gloss off that celebration. Still, this was yet another reason he will be sorely missed at the club.
Grealish has to watch and learn
Remember when there were people early in the season saying that Guardiola had to pick Jack Grealish because of his £100m price tag? They were without foundation at the time and they have been proven so over the course of the campaign.
That won't make it any easier for Grealish though, who is yet to start a Champions League knockout game for the Blues despite them being one game away from the final. The player has had the full backing from his manager when questions have been asked of his start to life at City and has done many good things, yet the fact he is not starting their biggest games indicates he has more to do to show why his Villa release clause was met.
Zinchenko steps up again
Guardiola opted against picking four centre-backs in his defence, choosing Oleksandr Zinchenko ahead of Nathan Ake at left-back. The Ukranian has had a handy knack of coming into his own in the second half of campaigns, and — hard as it may seem to believe now — started the Champions League final last year ahead of Joao Cancelo.
The competition at City means players constantly have to prove themselves to keep getting in the team. And if Zinchenko deserves credit for doing that yet again, he is owed even more this time for having been able to put the pain that he feels for his country's situation to one side. He continues to perform at the highest level in the biggest games.
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