Manchester City fell to a 2-1 home defeat against Lyon on Wednesday and it’s certainly not the start Pep Guardiola will have wanted in the Champions League.
The Premier League champions looked out of sorts for chunks of the game and whilst the result was a surprise, the performance will have been too.
In France they were expecting a tough match for Lyon and a draw would have been considered a good result, so to come away from Manchester with all three points is certainly a boost.
As well as praising their Ligue 1 side, L’Equipe have taken aim at Manchester City in their Thursday edition. The French newspaper have a deserved reputation for being tough when marking players, and City get that today.
Fabian Delph was given 3/10 for his performance, and L’Equipe believe he completely failed to deal with Maxime Cornet.
Ilkay Gundogan also got just 3/10, with the French newspaper saying the German midfielder failed to get between the lines and didn’t provide the danger Lyon will have been expecting from him.
Raheem Sterling was the only Manchester City player deemed worthy of a 6 or more. The England international was considered the team’s most dangerous player, whether coming from the left or right.
Manager Pep Guardiola got 4/10, and L’Equipe say that he wasn’t able to have full influence, being suspended, but did change things at half time, that worked a little but was considered ‘insufficient’.
