Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was quizzed over his team selection for the Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund and clearly didn’t like the line of questioning
Pep Guardiola reacted with irritation after being questioned about his team selection for Manchester City’s Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund. City hosted Dortmund on Wednesday night in a match which saw Erling Haaland given the captain’s armband against his former club.
Haaland inevitably scored as City took control after just 30 minutes when the Norwegian goal machine smashed in Jeremy Doku’s cutback. His 18th strike of the season came after Phil Foden found the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
City’s dominance came despite Guardiola choosing to rotate his squad following a 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday. He left Ruben Diaz and Bernardo Silva on the bench, with City facing another huge game against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.
But Guardiola was in no mood to answer questions on his decision in his pre-match interview with TNT Sports reporter Jules Breach.
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Asked whether the benching of Diaz and Silva was due to having one eye on the game against Liverpool, Guardiola replied dead-pan: “You don’t know me. After 10 seasons, I’m sorry to tell you, you don’t know me.”
Pressed on his selection, he added: “I never select a team which I don’t believe is the best to win a game. Never, ever.” The interview was then ended on that awkward note.
Guardiola made headlines in the build-up to the match by deciding to give his players an extra day off, rather than getting them on the training pitch. Asked earlier on in the interview by Breach if that could make the difference, he said: “I’ll tell you in two hours! If we win it’s a benefit, if we lose it won’t have been a benefit. The team is ready.”
He was also quizzed on Haaland being captain for the night. He said: “The selection of Erling to be captain… he’s one of the captains and one isn’t playing and the other one cannot be here. He’s a captain so he has to focus on what he needs to do, especially the game plan and the mentality you need to have to make an incredible step forward.”
Rodri was another notable absentee, with the City midfielder not even on the bench. “He doesn’t feel perfect, so that’s why we don’t take a risk,” Guardiola explained.
“He will come back… this little, little, little setback makes me realise everything, that we need a little more time to feel good and play football – doesn’t matter if he plays good or bad – knowing that he’s fine and he will not be out for a while.”
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