Manchester City are out of the Champions League after falling to a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
The Citizens travelled to the Santiago Bernabeu hoping to overturn their 3-2 deficit from the first leg, but they suffered a setback within the first few minutes.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in the fourth minute before scoring twice more to ensure Real Madrid reached the last 16 at Manchester City’s expense.
Although Nico Gonzalez managed to get on the scoresheet in second-half injury time, it was little more than a consolation for the beleaguered Citizens.
BBC Sport pundit Paul Robinson claimed that one of Man City’s players looked “very short of confidence” in the game against Los Blancos.
Paul Robinson says Abdukodir Khusanov was ‘struggling for confidence’
Robinson, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, was speaking about Abdukodir Khusanov, who joined Man City from Lens in a £34million deal in January.
Khusanov endured a very difficult debut against Chelsea and, though he has fared better since, Robinson felt he looked bereft of confidence at the Bernabeu.
“Abdukodir Khusanov looked like a rabbit in the headlights on his debut against Chelsea and he looks very short on confidence again here,” said Robinson, as per BBC Sport.
“He is a top quality young player and has all the attributes to be a top player but at the moment he is struggling with confidence.”
How Abdukodir Khusanov fared against Real Madrid
Khusanov lined up as a right-back on the night and was tasked with trying to keep Vinicius Jr at bay.
| Khusanov stats v Real Madrid | |
| Minutes played | 94′ |
| Goals | 0 |
| Expected Goals (xG) | 0.04 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Expected Assists (xA) | 0.05 |
| Clearances | 3 |
| Blocked shots | 0 |
| Interceptions | 1 |
| Total tackles | 1 |
| Dribbled past | 1 |
| Ground duels (won) | 4 (2) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 0 (0) |
| Possession lost | 6 |
| Fouls | 1 |
| Touches | 73 |
| Accurate passes | 53/57 (93%) |
| Key passes | 1 |
| Crosses (acc.) | 2 (1) |
| Long balls (acc.) | 0 (0) |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Shots off target | 0 |
| Shots blocked | 0 |
| Dribble attempts (succ.) | 1 (1) |
It was arguably one of the toughest tasks Khusanov – or indeed any player – could’ve asked for, but all in all, he didn’t fare particularly badly.
Indeed, he was one of Man City’s better defenders on the night and, considering he’s still so young, it’ll be exciting to see how he continues to develop.
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Man City are next in action on Sunday when they host Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League.
