Schalke 2-3 Man City, five things we learned: a work in progress and Sergio Aguero delivers again

The jewel of the Manchester City trophy cabinet seemed a little further away when Nicolas Otamendi's red card left a goal to Pepe Guardiola's team and a man down.

But it was City who finished the night with a advantage after the love at first sight of Leroy Sane and the last winner of Raheem Sterling.

Pep Guardiola sat with his head in his hands for much of the second period, frustrated by Schalke's new defense strength, but was finally thrilled with the most infallible results that kept him from defeating the Royal Blues. Here are five things we learned:

Urban fight in KO

The teams may have emerged from the model tunnel of the Schalke Veltins-Arena coal mine, but Man City has come to Schalke in search of gold. In less than 10 minutes, Guardiola's team announced its intention to advance from the eighth finals, pressing hard and placing Schalke defenseless on his own territory. However, having not taken advantage of several opportunities to double their lead, Schalke was still finding a way home. The past three seasons have seen Man City leave the quarter-finals (2018), the knockout stages (2017) and the semi-finals (2016), a statistic extremely worrying for Pep Guardiola. No doubt Schalke will make life difficult for Man City at Etihad.

Aguero is always reliable

Although his goal was a success, the way Sergio Aguero started this game adds even more weight to suggestions that the Argentine striker is one of the most talented in the English game. Tonight he scored after just 18 minutes when David Silva gave him a gift on a tray. His third goal in the Champions League this season in four appearances. That's 24 goals for the season in just 31 games. Aguero may not always be beautiful, but it is always fortuitous.

Schalke seemed like a draw … for 38 minutes

Although Man City has started to equalize, it must be said that Schalke seemed very far from the pace against the champions of England. Kevin De Bruyne pulled the strings in the middle of the field for the Citizens' match, pushing Aguero with a precise curving pbad between Schalke's central defenders after five minutes. Aguero did not manage to get shot but it was the sign of the future of the German defense. Goalkeeper Ralf Farhmann played a simple pbad to Salif Sane, but Silva grabbed it and opened the scoring for City. The Bundesliga wrestlers were not at all in the match until they were awarded a controversial VAR penalty from the first frame shot. Even only 13% of Schalke fans said their team could win this match in a pre-game poll. Man City looked for 38 minutes, but eventually collapsed until super-substitute Leroy Sane got a smashed free-kick to save him. Raheem Sterling was returning home when Bastian Oczipka slipped.

VAR is still not the finished product

The game was interrupted for more than two and a half minutes for the decision leading to Schalke's first penalty, the equalizer, as well as Nicolas Otamendi's yellow card, which saw him suspended from the second leg. The length of the decision is one of the problems that UEFA will try to reduce, leaving fans in unnecessary suspense as they wait for a decision that, at best, was debatable. Yes, there is no doubt that Daniel Caligiuri hit Otamendi's arm at goal, but the central Argentinian half seemed to want to tear it off. If the referee had been able to look at his side screen, he might have judged that his initial corner decision was correct. Otamendi took a second yellow and was sacked in the second half. If he had not received this first yellow, if the referee had used a side monitor, Man City might not have been reduced to 10. We have seen too often problems of implementation and use of VAR. VAR must be more effective, much faster than in the past to convince its unbelievers.

Schalke is a different beast in Europe

Schalke never felt like he was getting back into the game. Under the leadership of Man City, the Royal Blues have somehow found the spirit that has made their team a different beast in European football. Domenico Tedesco, who had his worst season in the last ten years on the national circuit, despite qualifying as a finalist in the Bundesliga last season, has kept the course on the strength of the Miners in Europe. The recovery of scorer Nabil Bentaleb allowed Schalke to prove that Schalke could compete. Tedesco's team was deep in goals, using a low block for much of the second period and frustrating Guardiola's men to Sane's fantastic goal.

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