Guardiola to keep faith with Nic despite slip in the derby
PEP Guardiola hinted at defensive changes as he plots an unlikely City victory against Liverpool.
The Blues must overturn a 3-0 deficit from the first leg if they are to progress to the Champions League semifinals, and will do well to keep a clean sheet. Despite an impressive defensive record across the season, City have conceded six in their past two games – and seven from their past two meetings with Liverpool.
Guardiola stuck with his centre-back pairing of Nicolas Otamendi and Vincent Kompany for the derby but changed the left-back from Aymeric Laporte to Fabian Delph, and right-back from Kyle Walker to Danilo.
As he looks for the perfect defence for the perfect game, the City boss is open to more tinkering.
“Maybe [I will change],” he admitted. “I have an idea of what we have to do tonight and the guys that are going to do it.
“But in the case of Nico, when a player does what he has done all we can do is be close to him.
“Nico does not just have huge qualities, he has a huge mentality.
“The third goal [against United] was a mistake but the other [United] goals were so, so good.
“He lost the ball in the build-up to the third, but there were a lot of mistakes after that.
“He has to defend better but we are here in the quarterfinals, 13 points in front against second in the Premier League – and Nicolas Otamendi is one of the most important reasons why.”