Beijing time at 3:00 a.m. on May 5, in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, 90 minutes before regular time, Manchester City led 1-0 away, the total score was 5-3, just when the fans thought that Manchester City was going to meet Liverpool in the Champions League final, Rodrigo kicked + overhead in the 90th and 91st minutes of the game, scored two goals in 2 minutes, magically pulled the total score into 5-5, the two sides entered the extra time, Benzema scored the winning goal in the 5th minute of extra time, and finally Real Madrid reversed Manchester City 3-1. Advance to the Champions League final 6-5 on aggregate.
Guardiola has had a hard time eliminating the Champions League this season, and Manchester City's players have pulled their crotches again, and the biggest culprit of the Blue Moon Army's Champions League is Portuguese centre-back Ruben Díaz. Why? Because City's three goals conceded were all related to him, and it happened in 6 minutes, it was simply a 6-minute colander.
Let's start with City's conceded goal in the 90th minute of the game, when Real Madrid attacked, Karim Benzema volleyed a volley from the left side of the penalty area and Rodrigo scored from close range. Díaz is completely unsettling, he wants to give goalkeeper Edson, and did not see Rodrigo inserted at all, Dias should be the first to step forward, the ball is the right defensive action.
Look at Manchester City's conceded goal in the 91st minute of the game, Carvajal's cross from the right was met by Rodrigo's header in front of the penalty area. The ball was entirely Diaz's pot, and he actually let the diminutive Rodrigo head in his defensive area, when Díaz did not take off at all.
As can be clearly seen from the game photos, Díaz also has a dodge action, this ball as a good center-back, at least to take off to create the necessary interference on the attacking players, even if they can't top it, they have to squeeze their bodies over so that Rodrigo can't stand it so comfortably.
Then watchIng city conceded the ball in the 95th minute of the game, Díaz defended Benzema's forward obviously unable to keep up with the rhythm, he shoveled the old French center forward over with one foot, the referee blew the penalty, Benzema poked and finally helped Real Madrid reverse Manchester City 3-1 (6-5 on aggregate) to advance to the Champions League final, after 4 years Real Madrid vs Liverpool met again in the Champions League final.
Díaz was once compared to Van Dijk by fans, but now it seems that the two are very different, and they are not a standard center-back at all. Especially after Díaz returned from injury this season, his form was really poor. Fans are blaming City for their weakness, in fact, the biggest problem for the Blue Moon Army this season is that the shield is too broken, the first leg of the Champions League semi-final is La Portela collapsed, the second leg is Diaz ravaged.
Looking at the post-match ratings, Díaz 6.2 points, Laporte 6.3 points, plus Ederson with 5.6 points, the most important three on the manchester City defensive end collectively scored low points, and it is also the lowest score for Manchester City's starting score, which is the fundamental reason why Manchester City did not qualify for the Champions League final.
It can be said that Guardiola has been tactically in order this season, did not suddenly change Manchester City, and the responsibility for the team's Champions League exit lies more with the players, do you agree with this view?