Pep Guardiola has defended his decision to make no substitutions during Manchester City’s Champions League draw against RB Leipzig in the round of 16 first leg. The Bundesliga team held the Premier League champions to a 1-1 draw as Josko Gvardiol overturned Riyad Mahrez’s first-half goal for the visitors. Guardiola’s side were the only English team which managed to avoid a defeat in their last-16 first-leg match after Spurs, Chelsea, and Liverpool all suffered losses.
The City manager also stated that he always understood visiting the Bundesliga’s top team would be a challenging away game and projected that the tie would still be in doubt going into the second leg at the Etihad in three weeks. However, all of Man City’s players, including Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez, sat on the sidelines as Pep Guardiola decided against making a substitute. The manager later gave an explanation for his decision.
I am so good a manager – Pep Guardiola adamant over his decision
Pep Guardiola has justified not making any replacements during the game despite his team needed some reinforcements which could have helped them win the tie and carry an advantage in the second leg. Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez were City’s only practical choices to make changes off a youthful-looking bench which was deprived of Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, but Guardiola decided to play the entire game with the starting lineup of eleven.
Leipzig held City to a deserved draw going into the second leg at the Etihad Stadium next month despite the visitors dominating the first half. While Guardiola’s tactics ensured that City had the upper hand, Leipzig pushed harder after the break and scored the equalizer to force a more fiercely contested battle. City’s firepower of Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez and the young talents in Rico Lewis and Cole Palmer still went all unutilised, as Pep Guardiola explained his decision:
“I have the opportunity to have five substitutions, I am the manager I apply and take it if I want. It doesn’t mean if I have the substitutions I have to do the substitutions. I’m a so good manager to decide what I have to do or not. I was really pleased with what I was seeing. With Phil to have this talent to do this, after the goal I thought immediately to bring Phil but we took the game in our hands.
“With this control. Because they play with six upfront. Two fullbacks as wingers, four players incredible runners. Those positions you need control. That’s why the players we had, Gundogan, Riyad (Mahrez), you need extra passes.
“Especially in the first leg, maybe second leg I decide to be crazy and play nine strikers and make up and downs. In this game I felt, I’ve been in this country and I need this type of control. Up and downs, it’s open, one or two actions from Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) to give the ball to Erling they block it. These situations, German teams are better than us.”
While Pep Guardiola used none of Manchester City’s subs, Leipzig used all five of theirs. Leipzig added the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Yussuf Poulsen and Amadou Haidara in the second half. Guardiola selected a potent starting lineup, but he didn’t bring any players off the bench. The starting lineup for the match against Leipzig included the likes of Kyle Walker, Riyad Mahrez, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, and Erling Haaland.