Losing the opportunity to play in the final and losing to an opponent like Liverpool on such a big stage will always hurt.  City have now lost three consecutive FA Cup semi-finals and have lost each of their last three appearances at Wembley. 
Worse than that, however, was the manor of this last defeat.  Pep Guardiola’s team was miserable in the first half, could not get away from the Liverpool attacking press and was blunt in the attack.  Two of the goals could also have been avoided altogether – City’s failure to properly mark Ibrahima Konate’s well-known aerial threat from a corner was exacerbated by Zack Steffen’s horrific mistake giving Sadio Mane his first goal. 
READ MORE: The battle of Manchester City closes Liverpool after the destruction of the first half

Little could be done to prevent Mane’s wonderful second, although his time just before the break came as a sucker-punch. To their credit, City played bravely in the second half, and if it were not for a wasteful finish by Gabriel Jesούςs, they could have completed a remarkable comeback. But it ended 3-2 and some fans needed someone to blame. As is often the case when things do not go well, Guardiola’s choice was widely questioned, an honestly ridiculous situation given the circumstances. In case no one had escaped attention, City participated in Saturday’s match having played three extremely tiring physical and mental matches in the previous 11 days. This level of effort, combined with the fact that three City players were injured on the trip to Madrid three days earlier, meant that Guardiola would always have to change his team. Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gudogan, Rodrigo, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez dropped out of the goalless draw that started with a goalless draw with Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. Kyle Walker lost the game completely, after he twisted his ankle badly. Joao Cancello, Phil Fontaine and Bernardo Silva were asked to continue, the latter being incredibly so given the running volume he did in the last week and a half. The capable attacking trio of Jack Grealish, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus started at Wembley after not playing midweek (Sterling played a 25-minute game), but with seven line-ups, City seemed incoherent. Many City fans on the internet – not to mention BBC Sport experts – wondered why Guardiola made only one change in the second half to help City return, but the answer seems pretty obvious. If the players he selected were those with 90 minutes on their feet, why would he put those who needed rest? “We had an awesome … in terms of racing, travel and a lot of important games, so we need fresh legs,” Guardiola said after the match. “It’s what it is – when you play a lot, a lot, a lot of games and we don’t have the biggest ones [deepest] team – when everyone is in shape it is okay, but when we have a few injuries it is not enough. We’re coming back from Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and now Liverpool again in a short time – we can swap some players who need it, but we know that when we get to this stage of the season and we’re fighting for the titles you have without rest, so we accept it “. De Bruyne was a surprise on the bench after his departure to Madrid, however, despite the warm-up at the Wembley line, it seems that his involvement was never really on paper. “In the end I did not want to risk losing him for the next game,” said Guardiola, explaining that there was a risk that the sutures in the midfielder’s foot would reopen. Gudogan was obviously not an option either, having received a blow to the knee. In the end, however, City played quite well for much of the second half. They played at a good pace and as Guardiola explained in the past, he does not like to interrupt it by making changes. He added: “Fernandinho played great, so did Bernardo, and I think Gabriel played well and Rahim played well, so sometimes you don’t. [make substitutions]. Of course, if we had scored the third goal, I am sure we would have done it in overtime, but we did not have many options “. It should not be overlooked that after resting almost his entire midweek squad, Jurgen Klopp was able to name a full Liverpool squad, including all of his key players. Competing with it would never be easy, whether team rotation or not. The only justified criticism for the selection of Guardiola’s team was the inclusion of backup goalkeeper Stephen. it’s hard to imagine Anderson losing his temper like that. Beyond that, the allegations that Guardiola “thought too much” about his choice or showed that he was not interested in the cup, are ridiculous. With seven crucial Premier League games approaching and a Champions League semi-final on the horizon, the FA Cup semi-final would always be the game to rest the players. The reality of the battle for every title is that at this stage of the season, some matches have to take precedence over others. Subscribe to our city newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this season.
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