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Forever Blue With Ian Cheeseman

It could only happen in Manchester, and to my beloved Blues. A hailstorm before the biggest home game in City’s history which left the playing surface covered in ice.

The match itself was probably the best team performance the club has played, but it had to be in an empty stadium. Typical City used to mean failing spectacularly in the most dramatic way possible. Now it means something else. 

Pep Guardiola said that only a perfect performance would guarantee his team a place in the Champions League Final, despite taking a 2-1 advantage into the second leg against Paris St.Germain. His team gave him exactly what he asked for. I’ve been lucky enough to see some great performances from Manchester City during my life time, which stretches back as far as the Bell, Lee, and Summerbee era, but the brushing aside of Paris at the Etihad was probably the best team performance I’ve seen. 

There’s no real secret to this team. Pep Guardiola explains it time and time and again, to all those that will listen. It’s about the even spread of quality throughout his team and indeed the whole squad. It’s about controlling the ball and dominating possession. It’s about every player thinking the same way and making the right decisions. I could go through the eleven that played on Tuesday night and praise them all. It’s not a team with stand out players, it’s about the collective. 

There are leaders within that team, with Fernandinho and Ruben Dias standing out in that sense. Both showed great maturity when PSG were losing their heads and there was a risk that Zinchenko and Mahrez could lose their cool. There’s no doubt that Kevin De Bruyne is a very special player, that Mahrez and Foden can sprinkle their magic dust in key moments and that Gundogen and Bernardo Silva are the heartbeat of a hard working midfield. 

Goalkeeper Ederson plays like a midfielder and has one of the best left foots I’ve ever seen, Stones has become a more mature and decisive defender and Kyle Walker is as fast as lightening. Zinchenko is such a lovely, neat and controlled footballer too. I’ve just listed them all which proves my point. Pep Guardiola, the football genius has put them all together and made the sum of all those great players even better than the individual parts. 

I was fortunate to be sat inside the stadium on Tuesday night, on the front edge of the TV gantry in the third tier of the Colin Bell Stand. I’d have loved to commentate on the mesmeric performance, as I once did, but being able to wax lyrical before and after the game to a huge audience in India with former players David James and Terry Phelan was almost as good. Seeing the big picture, from within the stadium, made it even more impressive. With the naked eye you can see all the runs off the ball that create the space that is so brilliantly exploited by the amazing players Guardiola has at his disposal. 

When City broke free for their second goal, which was eventually scored my Mahrez, I could see the goal before it happened. The speed of thought by these players is even more impressive than their physical speed. They can break down stubborn defences, they can counter attack and against PSG they showed they can defend too. 

Ruben Dias is an understated player who doesn’t appear to seek the limelight and yet twice during that game he threw his head in the way of thunderous shots and crosses but quickly and without fuss, got back to his feet in an instant to carry on organising and making sure the younger members of the team didn’t lose their cool. 

Earlier on matchday I privately messaged Fernandinho to wish him a happy 36th birthday. He messaged me back with his thanks and best wishes to my family. On Champions League semi-final day he found time to say thankyou. We have a special group of players and manager at City, let’s cherish them. Hopefully some fans will be able to travel to Istanbul for the final. This team deserves to have some support and the amazing City fans deserve to be there to see this magnificent team finally complete the project Sergio Aguero said he would be part of. It looks like he’ll achieve his dream of not leaving until City win the Champions League. It’s great to be a Blue, isn’t it!

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