The second round of Women’s Champions League league phase fixtures has come and gone, leaving Manchester City sitting in 11th place courtesy of a 1-1 draw to Real Madrid. The first half was dominated by the Spanish side who dictated proceedings in and out of possession. The WSL champions spent the majority of the half camped in their own half but even when they went forward, Real Madrid still had a threat on the counter through Felicia Schröder and Linda Caicedo.
For City, Khadija “Bunny” Shaw looked the most likely to break the deadlock but could not hit the target. It was Colombian winger Caicedo who drew first blood for the visitors in the 29th minute after being played in behind City’s defence by Andreia Jacinto.
Real Madrid again had chances to build on their lead in the second half, but it was City who struck back. Andree Jeglertz’s side took advantage of some sloppy play at the back by the visitors to score through Shaw in the 51st minute. The hosts had more control of the game from that point and even though both sides made substitutions to try and tilt the game in their favour, neither were able to score the winner.
Here are the five talking points from the game.
Slow start again
Last week, City were punished for a slow start against Bayern Munich and ended up trailing 2-0 within 30 minutes.
In this game, they started brightly but didn’t make the positive start count. They were able to get into the opposition final third and almost went ahead when Mary Fowler’s header off a set-piece hit the underside of the crossbar. Their dominance largely diminished as the half went on and they were pinned in their own half by the visitors for the majority of the first half and could not build any momentum to consistently test the opposition goalkeeper.
City’s adjustments at half time helped them control the game better but they did not do enough to mount a full comeback. The draw against Bayern makes it the third game in two weeks where City have started slowly and have had to dig themselves out of a hole. So far they have won once and drawn twice and they have to fix it before it turns into a trend.
Playing through the press
One of the reasons why City have been starting slow in games this season, including the Madrid game, is their inability to play through the press. While some of the issues are systematic, some are to do with the personnel available.
One of the personnel issues is the lack of ball carriers in midfield. Yui Hasegawa and Laura Blindkilde Brown are accomplished passers of the ball but they cannot carry the ball out of trouble when pressed, especially over medium to long distances. Teams have increasingly been wary of this and have been able to press them into mistakes.
Having a right footer at left-back in Carlotta Wamser has had benefits going forward. She balances Lauren Hemp’s left-footedness and they have built a good relationship. But, in terms of build up, the angles are not ideal. Back passes are in-swinging for example, which makes them easier to press
All this means City are reliant on their forwards holding up the ball to progress up the pitch. Last season they had Shaw and Vivianne Miedema, who are both strong in that area. At the start of the season, the options have been more limited as Miedema is injured and Shaw often gets crowded by defenders.
City’s pressing
When City lost the ball in the first half they struggled to get it back due to the lack of intensity in the press. Real Madrid were consistently able to find gaps in City’s defensive structure or overload it by dropping one of their forwards into midfield.
For their goal, Real Madrid won the ball on the edge of their box and were able to get in behind City with just two passes. Wamser was caught high up the pitch trying to counter-press, Blindkilde Brown who had moved to left-back to cover was caught on the wrong side of Caicedo and couldn’t match her pace and Alex Greenwood was too passive and did not close down the goalscorer.
Before half time, Real Madrid had 53% possession, they completed 116 passes in the opposition half compared to City’s 57. They weren’t able to create any dangerous chances off it and looked more dangerous in transition. Both sides had nine touches in the opposition box despite the visitors’ territorial dominance and six out of Real Madrid’s eleven shots in the half were from outside the box.
City’s pressing is another of the factors behind their bad starts to games and they need to find their feet before they play against sides that are able to turn territorial dominance into chances.
Bunny Shaw keeps scoring goals
Manchester City’s talisman had a disappointing game in Munich last week. Bayern were able to keep her at arm’s length, smothering her whenever City tried to play through her and marshalling her well in the box whenever City went forward in attack. At 2-1 down she got the opportunity to redeem herself when City won a penalty. Instead, she missed and was substituted and City went on to grab a late equaliser in her absence.
Against Real Madrid, on the other hand, her importance to City was there for all to see. Even in the first half when Real Madrid dominated possession and territory, City were still able to carve out opportunities and Bunny was at the heart of it.
In the first half, a couple of heavy touches in the box stopped her from getting shots away. She got on the end of two Aoba Fujino chances but could not convert.
Shaw was rewarded with her goal in the second half. Hasegawa won the ball high up and found the Jamaican in the box who spun and expertly dispatched it into the far corner to draw the teams level. That was her first UWCL goal of the season and takes her overall tally to five.
Substitutions… but no late winner this time
Like in most of the games where City have trailed after a slow start, they have depended on reinforcements from the bench to impact the game. City were in the ascendancy after scoring the equaliser when they called on Sam Coffey, Beth Mead and Grace Clinton to replace Blindkilde Brown, Fujino and Fowler in the 64th minute.
Coffey’s energy and defensive nous helped City maintain their intensity and her passing helped City get up the pitch. Mead was bright and she had a chance to put City ahead but her header went over the crossbar. Clinton has had better cameos, including the one a week ago in Munich, but she could not get into the game at all. Niamh Charles finally made her home debut but she did not pull up any trees either.
The main issue here is not just that sometimes the substitutions do not always have the required outcome. It’s that at Champions League level, the quality is higher and City have found the mountain more difficult to climb. Real Madrid responded with quality substitutions to freshen up their attack and still managed to maintain a threat of their own.
