Featured Image Credit: Getty/Prime Video
Topics: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Champions League, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Pep Guardiola, Jude Bellingham
Luke Davies
Topics: Manchester City, Real Madrid, Champions League, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Pep Guardiola, Jude Bellingham
Manchester City fans were not best pleased with one particular player during their 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League play-off first leg at the Etihad on Tuesday.
City went ahead thanks to a smart finish from Erling Haaland on 19 minutes, which was the only goal of the first half of proceedings in what was a nail-biting match.
Kylian Mbappé levelled the scores on the hour mark with an acrobatic volley past City's goalkeeper Ederson.
However, the home side went ahead 20 minutes later when Phil Foden was fouled by Dani Ceballos in the penalty area.
Haaland, 24, finished the ensuing spot-kick with aplomb to give his side a 2-1 advantage.
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And it looked likely to be the Premier League side’s evening before in typical Real Madrid fashion, they hit back through Brahim Diaz on 86 minutes.
Pep Guardiola could hardly believe what he was seeing in second-half stoppage time when Jude Bellingham latched onto Vinicius Jr’s lob over the advancing Ederson before the England international tapped home from close range.
But, throughout the game, City fans highlighted one player who many believe had a poor game and was partly at fault for Madrid’s winning goal.
Rico Lewis was introduced at half-time for Manuel Akanji, who was struggling with a knock and did not emerge for the second period.
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Lewis, 20, failed to clear a bouncing ball before Vini Jr ran towards the goal in the lead up to Los Blancos’ third.
Fans on social media were quick to give their take on the player’s performance.
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One said: "Rico Lewis, I swear, they will never ever convince me that you're good."
Another added: "Rico Lewis is not good enough for the Prem. Loan him to the Championship."
A third explained: "Why put on Rico Lewis on when Khusanov is a much better defender and offers more pace. Another Pep disaster-class!"
While a fourth commented: "The game was lost when Guardiola decided to bring on Rico Lewis to defend against Vinicius Jr instead of Khusanov."
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As a fifth claimed: "Honestly Rico Lewis I don’t see it."
A sixth slammed: "Rico Lewis is not Manchester City standard let’s be real."