Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has explained that his lack of action on the bench against Real Madrid was due to a desire to keep the ball.
Real Madrid were turning the screw in the second half of the first leg of the semi-final, despite City’s equaliser, with many feeling that Los Blancos were on top. Yet Guardiola did not choose to make any moves from his bench for the whole game.
Speaking to MD after the match, Guardiola explained that
“I thought that those who were there were fine.”
“Bernardo and Grealish could keep the ball and it was something we needed. If the game went crazy we didn’t have the same level as them [Real Madrid], we needed pausa.”
Manchester City did eventually hold out for the point, and will feel comfortable at home going for the tie. The fact that he did not feel comfortable using some of his substitutes will be a concern for City fans.
Carlo Ancelotti himself did not make changes until the final 10 minutes of the match, bringing on Marco Asensio, Aurelien Tchouameni and Nacho Fernandez for Rodrygo Goes, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric respectively, in order to freshen things up.
It looked as if both managers were relatively happy with how their sides were coping, and were reluctant to alter the equilibrium.
