Luka Modric insists Champions League holders will go to Manchester ‘with faith’ while City’s mature display suggests they have learned
When Eduardo Camavinga picked up the ball at the start of the move that shifted this game and shaped the tie, setting up what promises to be a superb second leg next week, 36 minutes had gone and Manchester City, the team who had won 16 games in a row, were already over 3o0 passes. They had 72% of possession and 100% of the shots, 6 to 0. Thibaut Courtois had intervened four times, the best save from Rodrigo Hernández, taking his Champions League count to 26 from the last 26 shots he has faced. And the Frenchman was still way, way back in his own half, boxed in by the area. But it didn’t matter.
A midfielder playing at full-back, suddenly the Frenchman was flying, the noise rose with every stride, as if they knew. It’s not that it was a chance, not really, only everything is a chance here, and as Camavinga reached the other end, from one area to the next, he found Vinícius Júnior 20 yards out. This wasn’t really a chance either, but the Brazilian’s shot screeched through the air into the net leaving him standing in the corner, hammering at his chest, that badge, this place going wild. Remember us?
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