Man City proud of performance against Leipzig

Spanish manager Pep Guardiola told his Manchester City players that they should be proud of their efforts during an impromptu post-match huddle on the pitch at the Red Bull Arena.

Moments after the final whistle had sounded in the 1-1 draw against RB Leipzig, Guardiola gathered his players together to tell them that they still stand a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League quarter-finals.

“The players’ heads were down,” Guardiola said when asked why he felt he needed to speak to his players. “I said, ‘Why are you heads down, be heads up, it was really good the way you played. If people don’t like it, it doesn’t matter.’”

Guardiola refused to blame the officials for failing to award his team a penalty in injury time when Benjamin Henrichs appeared to block Rodri’s header with both of his arms; though subsequent replays showed that it may have hit his shoulder.

“I didn’t see the image,” Guardiola said. “My players have seen it but I have not.”

Guardiola said that the Dutch referee, Serdar Gozubuyu, had not explained to him why the penalty was not given but did claim that it was checked by VAR.

“It was checked,” Guardiola said. “We didn’t talk about the refereeing decisions. The referee just decided no [it wasn’t a penalty.]”

Guardiola was happy with his team’s efforts against Leipzig, who beat Real Madrid at home in the group stage and said that he felt no reason to make any substitutions in the encounter in East Germany.

“I have the opportunity to make five substitutions but I am the manager and I take the decision not to, the fact I have five substitutions doesn’t mean I have to use them, and I am such a good manager to decide what I have to do,” Guardiola said with a smile.

“I was really pleased with what I was seeing.”