Pep Guardiola hits back at speculation that Manchester City would easily defeat RB Leipzig following a discouraging 1-1 draw in their Champions League last-16 match.
Wednesday at the Red Bull Arena, Riyad Mahrez gave City a 27th-minute lead after City had completely dominated the first half of the first leg in Germany.
Guardiola’s visitors had the upper hand, but Leipzig rallied after the break, and Josko Gvardiol secured a point for Leipzig ahead of the rematch on March 14 at Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola refuted Marco Rose’s claim that a convincing victory at Leipzig was always likely despite the fact that his team is currently fifth in the Bundesliga and had failed to score in three previous Champions League quarterfinal matches.
The City manager told BT Sport: “People expect we are going to win 5-0, that’s not a reality. It is past the group stage in a very competitive competition and many important teams around.
“It is difficult, we knew this, our fourth game in 10 days, the away games, the travels and the people expect [wins]…
“I know we are a good team, and we continue to do good things. But people expect we come here and win 4 or 5-0, we are not able to do this.”
The opening 45 minutes were in stark contrast for what was to follow, with City boasting 74 per cent possession and only conceding one shot on target in the first half – a timid Timo Werner effort at Ederson.
Guardiola’s side managed just a 49.2 percent share of the ball in the second half, facing six shots, as substitute Benjamin Henrichs spurned a pair of glorious opportunities.
RB Leipzig 1-1 Man City: Man City looked comfortable at half-time, but a poor second half means that this #UCL tie is level heading into the second leg at the Etihad Stadium next month. pic.twitter.com/QyINoab9tr
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) February 22, 2023
Former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss Guardiola insisted he was “happy” with the entire performance, however.
“They make a step forward, they pressed everyone high up, more problems in the build-up,” he said when asked about the second half.
“After the goal we conceded, we came back – we made a good last 15, 20 minutes. We had good chances, both sides in both halves, and now we go back to Manchester to decide it.”
Pressed on the drop in performance levels, a somewhat irked Guardiola added: “I’m happy for the whole game, not just the first half. What do you expect? We play a friendly game here?”
Despite Leipzig growing in confidence as the final whistle drew closer, Guardiola opted to make no substitutions throughout.
That was the first instance of no changes from a team during a Champions League match since Jose Mourinho did so with Manchester United against Juventus in October 2018.
But Guardiola remained confident with his decision, albeit admitting he considered introducing Phil Foden.
“I saw the team good, especially in the middle,” he continued. “I thought about Phil, but at the end I decided to continue with what I had.
“Bernardo [Silva] was giving a lot of control and I thought we could win it.”