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Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has jokingly suggested that he might have to try something a little bit out of the ordinary to get his team scoring at the same rate they used to. Speaking after his side’s 1-1 draw with Red Bull Leipzig, the Spaniard said:
“You expect us to come here and win 0-5? That is not a reality. This is a competition that 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. Maybe in the second leg, I will be crazy and play with nine strikers.”
While Guardiola was in a jovial mood after the match, Erling Haaland once again cut a frustrated figure throughout the match with teammates seemingly ignoring his runs in behind. The Norweigan is still on an incredible 32 goals for the season in all competition but his goal rate has slowed down drastically since the World Cup.
[🎙️] Pep Guardiola: "Some people expect us to come and win 4-0, I'm sorry, it's not that easy!" #ManCity
— City Zone (@City_Zone_) February 23, 2023
A decent night’s work
A 1-1 draw away at Leipzig is hardly a bad result, despite City struggling to create too many openings. They will be huge favourites going into the second leg but there is a feeling that City of a couple of years ago would have blown their opponents away at the first of asking.
City went ahead in the first half thanks to a goal from Riyad Mahrez but were pegged back in the 70th minute when Joško Gvardiol headed past Ederson. With City pressing for a late winner, Guardiola decided to not make use of a substitutes bench despite having Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden at his disposal.
It is the first time since 2018 that a manager hasn’t made any substitutions in a Champions League match, prompting many to speculate whether Guardiola has lost faith in significant portions of his squad. Guardiola, however, had a different explanation:
“I saw the team was good, especially in the middle. In the end, I decided to continue with what I had. Hopefully, in three weeks we arrive in a good condition. We can do better, we have to adjust some things to find a way to go through.”
Crunch time
As their season moves into its final three months, Manchester City’s season could still go down two very different paths. On one hand, they are still in contention for a Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League treble, while on the other they could quite easily finish trophyless.
If they do, then it will be the first time since Pep Guardiola’s first season at the Etihad that the club will end a campaign without any silverware.
Next up for the Blues is a return to Premier League action where they travel to Bournemouth on Saturday evening. After dropping points to Nottingham Forest last time out, they will be looking for an emphatic victory to pile the pressure on league leaders, Arsenal.
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