ROY KEANE SAYS Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have a long way to go before they can be regarded as a ‘great team’ following their humbling Champions League defeat at the hands of Liverpool last night.
City, the Premier League champions elect, face an uphill task heading into the quarter-final second leg after last night’s game and, arguably, the tie, was settled inside 31 minutes.
Torn apart by Liverpool’s rampant and devastating forward line, the visitors had no answer and conceded first-goals to Mohamed Salah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sadio Mane.
Speaking on ITV’s highlights show last night, former Man United midfielder Keane said this City team have yet to justify the hype around them, despite running away with the Premier League this season.
“There has been a lot of hype around this Man City team,” he said. “Talk about them being a great team, but this was a reality check for this team. They have a lot to do before they can be regarded as a great team.
“It will be a hard game for the manager to analyse because they had a lot of possession, but possession doesn’t win you football matches.”
“The Man City players will be shell-shocked. There is no way they could have visualised that they would be 3-0 down from the first leg. Even if the thought they would be in for a tough night, I’m sure they thought they’d score a goal.
“For all we have seen from them this season, City showed a real lack of quality, but give credit Liverpool for that.”
As for Liverpool, Keane was full of praise for Jurgen Klopp’s side as they took full control of the tie and are now in a great position to advance to the semi-finals.
“Great, great team performance from Liverpool,” the Ireland assistant manager added.
“They had a great start and Man City, we have seen it previous, Liverpool have the players who can hurt Man City, particularly on the counter attack.
“I thought the three players in midfield were outstanding. Milner, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain gave then that foundation to go on and win the game and I bet Liverpool can’t believe their luck to be 3-0 up.
“Okay, it will be a tough second leg, but Liverpool will fancy themselves to get an away goal and then the tie will be over.”
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