Monaco elated, City frustrated
Pep promises to ‘stay true to attacking DNA’
MONACO: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola vowed his team will not abandon their attacking DNA despite crashing out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
City led Monaco 5-3 after the first leg of their last-16 tie but the French Ligue 1 side hit back to win 3-1 in the return match to reach the quarter-finals on away goals.
Guardiola also admitted that he may have struggled to communicate his wishes to his players at Stade Louis II, especially in the first half when City quickly slipped 2-0 down.
“My philosophy has always been the same, that of attacking. In the first half, I was not able to convince my players to play in a certain way, to motivate them, to show more personality. I knew how to do it after the break,” said Guardiola.
“But the important thing is always to stay true to our DNA, to our style of play. We only did it in the second half.”
Teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe and Brazilian midfielder Fabinho struck inside the opening half hour as Monaco wrested away control of the tie.
Leroy Sane pulled one back on 71 minutes as City regained the lead 6-5 on aggregate, but Tiemoue Bakayoko’s terrific header sent the Premier League side tumbling out of the competition.
“It’s how we were in the first 45 minutes, that is the only sad thing for me,” Guardiola told BT Sport after failing to reach the quarter-finals for the first time as a coach.
“You can play and the opponent can beat you but we were not there. At the right moment, you should be there but we were not.”
Despite their initial struggles City reemerged after the break looking far more
threatening, but unlike in Manchester three weeks ago they failed to capitalise on their opportunities in the return clash.
“The way we played the first 45 minutes makes it so difficult, but we had the chances in the second half. We had the chances to score a lot of goals and we didn’t, that’s why we’re out,” said Guardiola.
“Normally we play all the time at a good level but at that moment [first half ] we didn’t.”
While City trail leaders Chelsea by 10 points in the Premier League, Guardiola is still hoping to land silverware in his first season in England with his side drawn against Arsenal in the last four of the FA Cup.
“I think we’ll improve, we’re going to try to improve. At this level sometimes you have to be lucky in the special moments in these competitions. We weren’t so that’s why we will prepare for the Premier League, the FA Cup and next season.”
Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim was delighted after his players rectified the costly mistakes they made in Manchester that threatened to undermine their European aspirations.
“After the first leg, I think after watching the match two or three times, the 5-3 scoreline wasn’t fair,” said Jardim.
“Because we messed up just a couple of small things and today that’s what I am talking about, the need to correct those small details.”
Monaco hero Bakayoko was well-placed to take his goal, sneaking ahead of poor City marking to head in a free-kick 13 minutes from time.
“I took it well and placed it to the side of the keeper. It’s an immense joy to score in the Champions League. It was something that I never expected.”
ATLETICO PROGRESS
Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak was the hero as the Spanish side reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the fourth year in a row after drawing 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen in an open last-16 second leg on Wednesday.
Slovenia international Oblak made an outstanding triple save to deny Julian Brandt and Kevin Volland in the second half and he made further impressive stops late in the game to shut out the Germans and secure a 4-2 aggregate success.
“It feels great for Atletico to reach the quarter-finals four years in a row, it’s very important for us and we have had to fight to get there,” said Oblak.
“It hasn’t been easy at all to get this far four years in a row and I hope we continue to grow as we have done in those years.”