Pep Guardiola's disillusioned reaction

The announcement of Pep Guardiola's extension at Manchester City did not help the Skyblues find some teeth. Unable to win a single match since October 26, the English champion remained on five consecutive losses before receiving Feyenoord last night in the Champions League. In the 53rd minute, the Cityzens thought they had finally put an end to this bad series. Thanks to a double from Erling Haaland and a goal from İlkay Gündoğan, City led 3-0 and seemed headed for quiet success.

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But this team is indeed sick. In fifteen minutes, Feyenoord achieved the feat of returning to 3-3 in a stunned Etihad Stadium. KO standing, Pep Guardiola no longer seems to have the words to explain the inexplicable. Worse, the Spanish coach even goes so far as to flagellate himself by inflicting small head injuries. Obviously eagerly awaited by the media at the end of the meeting, the Catalan was disillusioned. “ I don't know if the error is mental or technical. The 3-1 goal can't happen, the second goal? This can't happen to us either “, he indicated, before explaining that he did not expect such a scenario when making all his changes in the second period.

Guardiola didn't see it coming

« The result was not in danger, they were not attacking us. (Nathan) Aké was coming back from injury and I didn't want to play him for 90 minutes, and Gündogan is our only defensive midfielder. I also wanted De Bruyne to gain rhythm. The match was going well, I didn't think we were going to lose. » Proof of Guardiola's despondency, he used the verb lose even though his team did not lose. But the Spaniard is not the type to hit his players when it's time for a crisis… even if he sent them a little message all the same.

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« I don't need to send them a message, they know the situation perfectly. It's like that, it's difficult to get used to the idea. It was a good match. We scored three goals and we could have scored more, but in the end we conceded the first goal and we weren't stable enough and we couldn't win. What matters is not the intensity of the players' running or their commitment, but the fact that in football you win at specific times. (Jack) Grealish could have scored at the end, but he hit the post. I don't remember Feyenoord creating much danger in the first half, but we are not able to close out games and every time they came they scored against us. » The message got through.