‘Maybe in 2nd Leg I Will Play With Nine Strikers’: Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola After 1-1 Draw With RB Leipzig

Manchester City supervisor Pep Guardiola joked he may throw warning to the wind to complete off Leipzig in the Champions League by fielding “9 strikers”.

City were held to a 1-1 draw in Germany on Wednesday in the first leg of their last 16 tie with Riyad Mahrez’s opener cancelled out by a header from Josko Gvardiol.

“I didn’t want to come here and lose 4-3. It will have to be more open in Manchester,” stated Guardiola who coached Bayern Munich to Bundesliga titles in every of his three years in Germany and stated City “couldn’t compete” with the speed of German teams.

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“We don’t have the team to compete with them with a lot of transitions, they are better than us and they are faster than us, except Kyle (Walker) and Erling (Haaland).

“The pace they have, we don’t have it.”

Guardiola added: “Maybe in the second leg I will probably be loopy and resolve to play with 9 strikers. But I’ve coached in this nation and I analysed Leipzig and I wanted one of these management.”

The City manager gathered his team together on the pitch for an impromptu motivational session after the final whistle in an attempt to lift their spirits.

“They had their heads down, I advised them ‘Why are your heads down, put your heads up,” the Spanish manager told the post-match press conference.

“It was a really good game the game you played. If people don’t prefer it, it doesn’t matter, you performed the sport the way in which it ought to be performed.”

The City manager said the Champions League “used to be quite easy”, however is now “such a demanding competitors”.

“All of the teams in all of the leagues are really strong.”

Leipzig supervisor Marco Rose revealed how his half-time discuss, which “began quietly and ended up a bit bit louder”, pushed his players to stop “playing City’s game.”

“I advised them ‘what are you doing, coming into a game like this and standing deep – that wasn’t the plan.”

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Rose said he was confident ahead of the second leg in Manchester on March 14, but admitted “to go to City, we’d rather have a 3-0 advantage to feel better.”

“We can take lots out of the sport in order that we can’t play one other first half like we did right now.”

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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)