Manchester City scaled through to the play-off phase of the Champions League after coming from behind to beat Club Brugge 3-1 and finish 22nd of the 24 qualified teams to secure progress.
Man City will face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in February’s play-offs – the price to pay for such a flawed campaign.
City’s night had started in worrying fashion when a merchandise kiosk outside the stadium caught fire and it took a stirring second-half revival to ensure their European hopes were not also up in flames.
Pep Guardiola called for “something special” ahead of the game and what he got – in the first half at least – was something quite shocking as City failed to muster any drive, intensity or shots on target before getting stung on the break by Raphael Onyedika.
City knew ahead of time – having surrendered a 2-0 lead at PSG to lose 4-2 last week – that anything other than a win would consign them to an early exit from the competition they won just 18 months ago, but even that could not summon the urgency necessary to hurt Brugge.
Savinho: The game changer
Luckily for Guardiola, all that changed after the break when Savinho came on, providing more direct threat and creating gaps, allowing Mateo Kovacic to drive through the heart of midfield and sweep home the leveller.
Manchester City were staring down the barrel until Savinho’s half-time introduction. It made you wonder what he was doing sat on the bench in the first place, brought on to replace a laboured Ilkay Gundogan. Savinho has now been directly involved in five goals in his last six appearances in all competitions.
Everything became a bit more straightforward thereafter as Josko Gvardiol forced young defender Joel Ordonez to turn through his own net before Savinho scored a well-worked third to ease any lingering nerves with 13 minutes to go.
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Guardiola: We cannot win Champions League
Man City manager Pep Guardiola: “When I saw the fire before the game I thought the journalists have their headlines already, that’s for sure. We were out but now we go forward.
“Brugge defend so tight, they go man to man, we need the quality and the spark to make the right action to score – maybe we felt the pressure. In the right moments we got the goals and the new format has been really tough, really difficult.
“In the future important teams might live what we have this season. It’s an incredible lesson for the club, for me firstly, and for the players – nothing is for granted.”
Asked if Man City can still be considered contenders to win this year’s Champions League: “Right now, no. I’m so pragmatic, the reality is the reality.
