‘They were just lucky yesterday, some of my best player’s where out cause of injury’ – Manchester City Manager Pep Guardiola takes shot at Real Madrid’s manager Ancelotti after Real Madrid Vs Manchester City champions league draw yesterday
Following Manchester City’s match with Real Madrid on Tuesday night, Pep Guardiola, the esteemed manager of Manchester City, found himself once again entangled in a strained relationship with the media.
The tension began when Guardiola expressed his opinion that Real Madrid President Florentino Perez should have focused on other enhancements rather than deliberating over the prospect of covering the roof at the Santiago Bernabeu to mitigate noise disturbances.
Prior to the game, Guardiola faced a rather unsettling question regarding his team’s potential desire to provoke a yellow card for Vinicius Junior, which would result in the player missing the subsequent leg of the contest. Guardiola viewed this suggestion as offensive, reflecting his distaste for such tactical maneuvers.
Post-match, when queried about the roof once more, Guardiola shifted the discourse towards the quality of the pitch itself. While acknowledging the magnificence of the stadium, he expressed a preference for the openness of the sky. Nonetheless, he advocated for improvements in the pitch’s quality, stressing its pivotal role in the game.
Although Guardiola underscored that pitch conditions were not an excuse for their performance, Rodri Hernandez echoed similar sentiments, suggesting that Manchester City was partly affected by the poor state of the pitch.
Reports indicated that even the Real Madrid team was dissatisfied with the surface conditions. The ongoing renovations around the stadium exacerbated this longstanding issue at the Bernabeu.
During Guardiola’s tenure at Barcelona, it was widely known that Real Madrid deliberately maintained longer grass and reduced water usage to impede the ball’s movement. This strategic approach had previously vexed both Guardiola and Xavi Hernandez, leading Guardiola to question the pitch quality during Tuesday’s match as well.