Pep Guardiola explained his decision to substitute Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne against Real Madrid at the Etihad on Wednesday, April 17. The duo were subbed off at the end of 90 minutes and late in extra time, respectively in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final clash.
The Catalan coach revealed that both superstars asked him to sub them out because they couldn't continue.
"Erling and Kevin asked me to go out, like Manu, they could not continue. The game we were playing they were amazing and I am not a big fan of making a lot of substitutions but Kevin, Erling and Manu asked me to go out. But, they couldn't continue," Pep Guardiola said afterwards, via Goal.com.
Haaland missed a number of chances to score and help his team take the upper hand in the game, also hitting the post once. Meanwhile, De Bruyne, who remained on the bench in the first leg, was impressive on Wednesday. He was arguably the Cityzens' best player and the one who tied the game and sent it to overtime.
But, like Haaland, he was subbed out and didn't take part in the penalty shootout, where the Merengues prevailed 4-3 after the aggregate score was tied at 4-4.
Pep Guardiola has no 'regrets' about his players' effort against Real Madrid; says Manchester City 'did everything' to win the game
Pep Guardiola had nothing to complain about regarding his players' effort in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid. The Catalan coach said his players did everything they could, but the Merengues stood tall eventually.
"I don’t have any regrets about what we have done. Always we try to create more chances and concede less, because we believe that helps you to win and we did everything," Pep Guardiola said afterwards, via SportsJoe.
"I would have preferred to win but congratulations to Real Madrid. They defended so deep with incredible solidarity and we did everything. We played exceptionally in all departments and unfortunately we could not win," he added.
The Cityzens dominated the game with 67% ball possession and 33 shots on goal (8 on target), compared to the Merengues' eight (3 on target). Still, it was Real Madrid that advanced to the semi-finals, where they will play Bayern Munich.
As for Manchester City, they shift their attention to the Premier League finale and Saturday's (April 20) FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
