Five Things We Learned as Man City Lose to Barcelona on Penalties
Manchester City fell to a third successive defeat on their US pre-season tour, losing 4-1 on penalties to Barcelona following a thrilling 2-2 draw in Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday night.
Kalvin Phillips saw his spot kick saved in the shootout as City failed to convert two of their three penalties, while the Catalonian side tucked away all four for the victory.
The Spanish giants took the lead midway through the first half after Pau Victor fired a low finish beyond Ederson, but they were pegged back 15 minutes later following a fantastic strike from the boot of Nico O’Reilly.
Barcelona did re-take the lead in first-half stoppage time through Pablo Torre, however, Jack Grealish finished off a sweeping counter-attack after the break before ultimately losing via the shootout.
Here, Mail Sport’s Jack Gaughan takes you through five things we learned from Florida.
O’Reilly Playing His Way into Guardiola’s Plans?
Oscar Bobb has taken the real shine away from anybody else on this tour, but Nico O’Reilly certainly deserved his moment against Barcelona.
He rose to prominence when scoring a scorpion kick for the academy two years ago, and then followed it up with a stunning lob in an Under-18 derby days later.
He’s had to bide his time for an opportunity to impress Pep Guardiola and has taken it over the past 10 days.
O’Reilly’s clever forward run carved out a Bobb goal against Celtic, and it was his turn to finish off a smart move here in Orlando.
The 19-year-old sauntered beyond Barca’s back line and picked up an incisive Josko Gvardiol through ball to slot beyond Ignacio Pena. It even drew applause from Erling Haaland, so it couldn’t have been bad.
His overall performance, playing a little deeper than usual, was full of strong moments in the tackle and a good range of passing. There were the odd little mistakes here and there, but that is to be expected.
O’Reilly, represented by the same agency as Guardiola, will hope he is given some cup games this season to show more in competitive fixtures.
Mixed Evening for the Croatian Duo
The two Croatians, Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic are playing a bit of catch-up after arriving in New York and feeling their way into pre-season.
Both had their moments in Orlando. Kovacic, in particular, seems like he’s never been away, gliding through midfield on his first 65-minute appearance back.
The way he took six Barca players out of the game during a powerful 70-yard run for Jack Grealish’s goal shows that he is more than just a credible rotational option to Rodri.
That central midfield area will be crowded given Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, but Kovacic’s performances towards the end of last season make him difficult to dislodge.
Guardiola had more of a mixed evening. There were lapses in concentration at center-half – his natural position but one he barely operates in anymore – and his impatient press led to Barca’s opener. But then the pass for O’Reilly’s strike served as a reminder of his quality in possession.
Grealish Shows His Goalscoring Threat
Even before his goal, Grealish was acting with a bit more of an edge in this friendly. More willing to run at his man and seemingly more in tune with those around him.
The finish will have done him good, owing much to the aforementioned Kovacic burst. A confident finish across the goalkeeper on his left foot after settling himself.
He admitted to us earlier in the week that the England snub was the hardest moment of his career and has something to prove ‘to some people’. Gareth Southgate is one of them, you presume.
Grealish has been criticised for a lack of goals and assists since joining City for £100 million yet does also know his value within Guardiola’s team.
‘I want to score, because in football there is no better feeling than scoring goals, but it is a team game,’ he said a few months back after an encouraging display at Crystal Palace.
‘I feel I bring so much more to the team than just goals and assists. If you watch the Palace game back you’ll see I played well. It’s just a shame that everyone in the world now just loves stats.’
He’s not wrong, but a few more goals like this wouldn’t hurt.
A New Position for Phillips?
Barcelona, a sell-out 63,237 crowd, did Guardiola overthink the occasion? Don’t write in. It’s a joke.
An inventive call at the back, though, which became clear when Kalvin Phillips was doing drills as a center-back in training 24 hours beforehand.
And Phillips did well there, next to Gvardiol. More time on the ball, that extra second to pick his pass, and he seemed far more comfortable. Defensively solid too. Perhaps some food for thought for the England international.
Elsewhere, Maximo Perrone was a false nine for a spell, and Jaden Heskey – son of Emile – showed glimpses of real potential during a short cameo.
A Reminder That Technology is Needed
There is often that phenomenon of players becoming better for not actually featuring, and that was definitely true of technology during this.
Haaland looked certain to have given City an 11th-minute lead when the Norwegian stretched a limb to divert Oscar Bobb’s cross home.
Barcelona goalkeeper Pena did well in scrambling to get something behind the effort but didn’t seem to prevent it from going behind the line.
Replays showed that it appeared to have crept across, but the linesman, who was standing behind the goalkeeper’s body, didn’t see it.
With no goal-line technology, we played on and Barca took the lead 13 minutes later. Although none of that mattered on the night, it was a reminder that some technology does enhance proceedings.
On Haaland, it’s interesting that Guardiola has opted to substitute the striker at half-time of the last two friendlies while others stay on midway into the second half. ‘Erling has already rested,’ Guardiola said last week. ‘(If) he’s tired, go to bed early. Focus 24 hours and you will be ready. Tiredness is not an excuse. I push him to be more focused.’
In summary, City’s pre-season tour has provided valuable insights and raised intriguing questions about player roles and team dynamics as they prepare for the upcoming season.
