Manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, offered a novel solution to RB Leipzig’s struggles to score more after watching his team hold them to a second consecutive 1-1 draw, this time in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 match.
“Maybe in the second leg I will be crazy and play with nine strikers,” he joked.
Even though Guardiola seemed upbeat following the match in Germany, and a draw on the road in a European knockout match is certainly not a result to be sniffed at, he will likely still be frustrated that his team has not converted their recent dominance into more goals.
The same thing happened at RB Leipzig as it did at the weekend, costing them two points in the Premier League title race after Manchester City’s first-half goal was cancelled out by Nottingham Forest’s equaliser.
Riyad Mahrez’s goal was the only result of City’s complete dominance in the first half.
“You expect us to come here and win 0-5? That is not a reality,” Guardiola told BT Sport after the game.
“This is a competition where, in the group stage, many important teams are out. It is difficult. We are a good team, and we do many, many good things. We continued to do this.
“People expect us to come here and win 4-0; I am sorry we are not able to do this.”
A quiet night for Haaland
City’s hopes of scoring more than one goal were not helped by a quiet display from Erling Haaland.
The striker, who missed a number of chances at Forest, had just seven touches of the ball in the first half and none of those were in the opposition penalty box.
Haaland, usually so deadly with the few chances he gets, had a real opportunity to add a second for City after the break but dragged his shot well wide.
The Norway international has five goals in five Champions League games for Guardiola’s side this season and has 32 overall, so of course the odd quiet game is allowed, but this was a particularly anonymous one.
By the end he had had 20 touches of the ball and just one shot on goal.
Mahrez, who scored his 20th goal in the Champions League, defended the work of his team-mate.
“He is a fast, powerful attacker and we know his qualities,” he said.
“It’s not up to him to win, to go get the ball. He’s not there to have 70 touches every game.”
Former Arsenal defender Matthew Upson, who was watching the game for BBC Radio 5 Live, said: “You can’t say he doesn’t do his job when you look at the numbers. I know he didn’t score tonight, but that’s his role; that’s how they play.
“His manager seems happy with it and he seems happy that he’s scoring loads of goals and going to be breaking records in terms of that.”
‘Trust the process’ as Guardiola opts not to turn to his bench
As the game wore on and a winner for City – who were unfortunate not to have been awarded a late penalty for handball – looked increasingly unlikely, it seemed unusual that Guardiola did not turn to his bench.
It is the first time a side has not made any substitutions in a Champions League match since Manchester United against Juventus in October 2018 under Jose Mourinho.
With a number of attacking options available to him including Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez, Guardiola had players who could make a difference, but he didn’t see the need to mix things up.
“I saw the team was good, especially in the middle,” he added. “In the end I decided to continue with what I had.”
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand said on BT Sport: “You want to get on the pitch and play football, especially when you think you are the person who can affect this game, unlock this team.
“But at the same time you have to respect Pep. All of the players, especially in the attacking areas of the pitch, have these moments – so you have to be patient, trust the process.”
‘We will adjust some things to try and go through’
Given City’s formidable record on home soil — they have won 17 of 19 games at the Etihad Stadium this season — they will rightly feel confident of getting the job done in the return leg on Tuesday, March 14.
At full-time on Wednesday, Guardiola gathered his players in a huddle to remind them they had plenty to be positive about.
“I said ‘why you have your heads down? Heads up, it was good’,” Guardiola said of that moment.
“Hopefully, in three weeks, we will arrive in good condition. We can do better. We have to adjust some things and find a way to go through.”