KEVIN DE BRUYNE revealed it took Manchester City just 15 MINUTES to perfect the system which bamboozled neighbours United on Tuesday.
Pep Guardiola came up with a tactical masterstroke to thwart the Red Devils by playing with a ‘false nine’ at Old Trafford.
Kevin De Bruyne exposed Manchester United’s weaknesses with another masterful performanceCredit: AFP or licensors
It saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men chasing shadows in a disastrous first half – as City raced into a 3-0 lead.
United finally got to grips with it as the visitors slowed down after the break but by then much of the damage was done.
De Bruyne said Guardiola only told the players they would be using the new formation on the morning of the game – and spent just a quarter of an hour practising it.
The Belgian maestro said: “We did 15 minutes this morning. That’s about it.
“On Monday we didn’t train that way then Tuesday morning we did. But it’s not like we never did it before.
“We did it already – sometimes against teams who prefer to play man against man – Cardiff, United, I think Barcelona the way we did it the first year.
“So we’ve done it a couple of times.
“I don’t think there is a lot of difference, we played a lot of times already that way, against Arsenal.
“Obviously they tried to play man against man in the midfield so it’s a little bit difficult for us because wherever we run they tried to follow us.”
No it’s not done but I prefer to start with a 3-1 advantage than the other scoreline obviously
Kevin De Bruyne on the semi-final second-leg
Guardiola was wary of United’s counter attacks, which were used to such devastating effect in their surprise victory at the Etihad last month.
The idea last night was that City would pass the ball more and restrict the home side’s chances to catch them out.
De Bruyne added: “I think we know what their strong points were and then you try to keep the mistakes to a minimum. On the counter, they’re very dangerous.
“I think they’re more dangerous when they play in that way then when they have the ball, and I think that we pressed them really well and we kept the ball good.
“We created lots of chances in the first half, the second half maybe a few but we did well.”
City are now hot favourites to complete the job in three weeks time and book their place at Wembley.
But United’s improved second-half show and a consolation goal from Marcus Rashford means nobody at the Etihad can take it for granted.
KDB added: “No it’s not done because obviously I don’t think the rule of away goals is there so obviously they only need to go two so it’s possible.
“But I prefer to start with a 3-1 advantage than the other scoreline, obviously.”
De Bruyne confirmed there was no lasting damage despite feeling the full force of Victor Lindelof’s arm in the second half.
He was taken off as a precaution late in the game but said afterwards: “I’m fine, my neck is a little bit stiff.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
