Speaking in his post-match press conference after Manchester City marked their return to the UEFA Women’s Champions League with a 2-0 win over FC Barcelona at Joie Stadium, Gareth Taylor praised an excellent performance from Naomi Layzell but downplayed the significance of the result, insisting that the victory simply marks “a step forward” for the club.
What did Gareth Taylor say?
“With all my respect to Barcelona,” Taylor opened, “I felt we could have maybe been three or four goals up due to the opportunities we created and the pressure we put on them.”
The 51-year-old was thrilled with his side’s performance, with the Cityzens stifling the reigning back-to-back champions in the competition on their return from a three-and-a-half-year absence. He told reporters that the “performance in the first half was top, so was the second one. It gave us different things and we knew that at some point we’d have to weather the storm.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThey had to do just that, with a few moments of concern defensively seemingly providing opportunities for both Ewa Pajor and Aitana Bonmatí. City defended resolutely though, with Laia Aleixandri perhaps the standout player in that regard.
“I think one of the things I’ll say about Barcelona and why they’re the best is that they bounce back,” he added, with Pere Romeu now having a week to work with his side ahead of their next match in this competition, which sees them host Hammarby next Wednesday.
Speaking on how his side set up for the match, Taylor explained: “It was very similar almost to the Brighton game in terms of how we set up. What they do is similar in terms of trying to overload the midfield – if you just surrender position to Barcelona, they’re going to hurt you.”
But despite recording a relatively comfortable victory against a side that’d he’d billed as “the best in the world” during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, the Manchester City boss was in no mood to get ahead of himself and instead explained that he “would downplay” the significance of the result.
“We have taken a step forward tonight. It’s a big step for us and we’re super honoured to be in the competition and enjoying the journey. We just need to do ourselves justice,” he suggested.
Perhaps the biggest step of all came for Naomi Layzell, a summer signing for the Cityzens from a relegated Bristol City side. The centre-back, playing out of position on the right of defence on Wednesday, opened the scoring in the first-half before picking out Khadija Shaw in the second half to double Manchester City’s advantage.
Embed from Getty ImagesLayzell’s rise to the top has been meteoric, but Taylor confirmed that “if you get to know Naomi, you’d probably say it doesn’t surprise you. She’s very humble, very coachable and takes on information very well.”
“To come in and play the way she has for us in the WSL, Champions League qualifiers and this game tonight, she’ll be on cloud nine.”
But the 20-year-old’s dream debut ended with her hobbling around the perimeter of the pitch with the support of the medical team, after tumbling to the ground clutching her ankle. Taylor was able to offer an update on her condition during his post-match conference, revealing that “my first thought was [I] hope it’s not an achilles.”
“But she seems to be okay, presenting as more of a rolled ankle although she hasn’t actually rolled it.”
