‘They’re a different proposition there’: Rio Ferdinand insists Manchester City are more than capable of turning Champions League quarter-final on its head after defeat at Tottenham
- Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester City can turn Champions League tie around
- City were beaten 1-0 away by Tottenham in first leg of quarter-final
- Ferdinand feels City will be a different proposition at the Etihad Stadium
- Ex-United defender insists that Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane must start
Rio Ferdinand has insisted that Manchester City are capable of turning their Champions League quarter-final tie around despite suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Tottenham in the first leg.
Son Heung-min’s goal in the 78th minute saw Tottenham secure a first leg victory at home, but Ferdinand has warned that City will be a different proposition at the Etihad Stadium next Wednesday.
Former United defender Ferdinand anticipates that City boss Guardiola will make several alterations to his team for the second leg, which could see the involvement from the outset of Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane, who both featured as late substitutes on Tuesday night.
Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester City will be ‘a different proposition’ in the second leg
Bernardo Silva, meanwhile, could return to fray after missing the first leg through injury.
Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand said: ‘Being at The Etihad as well, they’re a different proposition there, and I think that he’ll make some changes.
‘Kevin De Bruyne will come back in, Bernardo Silva might be fit, he’s been a very influential player this season, and Sane will have to play – he’s a superb footballer who can change games in an instant, so there are big players to come in who will definitely make a difference. It’s how this Tottenham team deal with that.’
Ferdinand feels Kevin De Bruyne could start in the second leg along with Leroy Sane
Son admitted that Tottenham still face a tough task in attempting to reach the semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition.
He said: ‘It’s a tough place (to go) but we perform well and we fight well. We should just enjoy like today and fight all together.’
Son Heung-min, who scored Tottenham’s winner, admits that the second leg will be tough
City manager Pep Guardiola wasn’t too disheartened by the result and took the positives from the performance.
Guardiola said: ‘There are always key moments in football, you know it’s the Champions League. Nobody expects it would be easy and you have to show it in the next game.
City manager Pep Guardiola was pleased with the performance that his side produced
‘I think the actions, the performance of the game, we performed really good in a difficult game. We created half chances, including the penalty and other situations.
‘It was a good performance but that is the Champions League. We lost, we had the second game and we’ll see what happens.’
City striker Sergio Aguero saw his penalty saved by Hugo Lloris in the first half, with the spot-kick having been awarded after VAR was consulted and referee Bjorn Kuipers ruled that Tottenham defender Danny Rose had handled following Raheem Sterling’s shot.
One boost for City is that Tottenham striker Harry Kane suffered an ankle problem in the second half that caused him to go straight down the tunnel after being substituted.