Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made a shocking confession just days out from his team taking … [+]
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made a shocking confession just days out from his team taking on Real Madrid in a huge Champions League quarterfinal second leg.
The Catalan made headlines in Spain for his complaints about the Bernabeu turf following a thrilling 3-3 draw between the two European giants earlier this week.
Guardiola was impressed by the renovated stadium, but took digs at Madrid and its president Florentino Perez for what he believed to be an unsatisfactory field, which provoked a response from the La Liga leaders.
Midfielder Rodri joined his manager in badmouthing the grass, but also pleaded for a rest this weekend when City take on Luton Town in the Premier
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And once more, Guardiola has caught the attention of the Spanish media for saying that his men are in “big, big trouble” just five days out from one of the matches that could define their season.
“Take a look at our games and you realise,” Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “It’s simple. He is so important for the quality he gives us. But if you have a player that doesn’t want to play, he won’t play.
“I need to rest the centre halves also but in [England’s] friendly games, [John Stones and Kyle Walker] got injured so they get cannot rest. We are in big, big trouble.
“I had the feeling we were tired in the last games. We will decide tomorrow what we have to do,” Guardiola added.
Another factor that has been widely-discussed in the aftermath of the thrilling UCL first leg was how off-key Erling Haaland was.
The same logic applies to Jude Bellingham, and also Kylian Mbappe who had a no-show in a 3-2 loss in the same competition to Madrid’s bitter rivals and the club of Guardiola’s life in FC Barcelona.
His opposite number in the Spanish capital Carlo Ancelotti warned to write the trio off at your peril, but Guardiola only fielded a question on his own striker when asked what he can do to improve his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or.
“He needs to play more minutes, to learn from what you have to do,” Guardiola answered. “But the target is not the Ballon d’Or, the target is to win trophies and he did. Would we have won five trophies last year without him? Not a chance.
“It’s not about Erling or any other player. Until you retire, you can [always] be better.”
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