Away goals come back to haunt Manchester City, leaving Leicester City as the sole English survivors in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Monaco 3 Manchester City 1 (6-6 on aggregate, Monaco win on away goals)
A Leroy Sane goal wasn’t enough to keep Manchester City in the Champions League on a lop-sided night in Monaco.
Pep Guardiola talked of attacking to defend their two-goal advantage, but then opted to start with Fernandinho ahead of Yaya Toure and watched his team turn in an abject performance that had them 2-0 down at the break.
Kevin De Bruyne was moved deeper in the second half and City improved markedly. Sergio Aguero was handed two great chances but failed to take either before Sane scored from a Raheem Sterling rebound.
Monaco soon netted again and City never recovered on a night when the manager was let down by his players more than his selections.
And, generally, the players have let down their Fantasy managers this season as well.
City’s squad is ageing – 12 regulars are 30 or more – and surprisingly thin, with a cluster of exceptional players, some still developing and then the rest.
Guardiola’s tinkering and a couple of key injuries have rendered the vast majority of his squad as unreliable Fantasy assets.
City have kept three consecutive clean sheets in the league, out of just eight all season, and the only defender in the top 30 for points scored is Aleksandar Kolarov, back in 21st spot.
More surprisingly for such a free-scoring team, they have just two top 30 midfielders – De Bruyne and Sterling – and only John Stones, Sterling and Aguero are owned by more than 10% of managers as a result.
In the absence of Gabriel Jesus, Aguero is the side’s go-to striker and, despite last night’s blank, he still has six goals in his last six across all competitions.
Nonetheless, there’s every likelihood that City’s schedule over the next three Gameweeks – which involves Liverpool at home and trips to Arsenal and Chelsea – would have earned him far more than the 14,000+ transfers out this week, if it hadn’t been for Harry Kane’s injured ankle and a suspension to Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Certainly, in terms of league output, Sterling remains the most consistent, with a goal or assist in nine of his last 11 Gameweek appearances. Yet last night’s consolation continued the recent ascent of Sane, who now has six goals and four assists in his last 11 matches across all competitions.
With a (yet-to-be-scheduled) double Gameweek to come, albeit involving the home leg of the Manchester derby, City’s favourable run of fixtures from Gameweek 32 onwards indicates that they will still have a part to play in our plans.
Furthermore, there’s hope that last night’s exit will only lessen the likelihood of rest and rotation, as Guardiola targets a kind run-in to secure a top two finish, at least.
Pep’s men also still have to host Hull, Crystal Palace, Leicester and West Brom. The Baggies clash – originally scheduled for Gameweek 34 – has been postponed due to their progress to the FA Cup semi-finals but is expected to remain in that Gameweek and be moved to midweek.
With trips to Southampton, Middlesbrough and Watford also on their agenda, City at least have the platform to put last night’s chastening exit behind them and offer FPL managers reason for optimism once the testing next three Gameweeks have passed.
Man City XI: Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy (Iheanacho 84), Fernandinho, Sterling, Silva, De Bruyne, Sane, Aguero.
Subs not used: Bravo, Zabaleta, Otamendi, Delph, Toure, Navas.
