Even though Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was happy with the qualification, he was not pleased with the team’s performance.
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Manchester City showed character to bounce back from a two-goal deficit and win their Champions League group fixture against RB Leipzig. Lois Openda stunned the Etihad crowd with a first-half brace. However, the defending champions did not surrender easily, as they staged an impressive fightback in the second half through goals from Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez. On a sweeter note, the three points sealed the top spot in Group G for City.
Even though Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was happy with the qualification, he was not pleased with the team’s performance during the 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig. “If you talk about qualification, then it’s a great night. 15 [points] from 15. If you talk about the game, we could do better, sloppy goals. In football you have to win duels and it was quite similar against Chelsea. We were solid and now [not],” Guardiola, quoted by the club’s website, said after the match.
He added: “We’ve had two warnings already. But it’s the same up front. We had chances and we miss it. Maybe for the future it’s good to win that way, not comfortably to realise and to look in the mirror and we have to do better. But we’re there in February, top of the group. I don’t know who we will face but the second leg will be here. We showed again we are able to make a comeback. We scored early in the second half and it’s a long 45 minutes for the opposition.”
There were plenty of things in the first half that did not please Guardiola, as the manager even admitted that he was not sure that they would complete the turnaround. “I was not sure. The way we played in the first half I was not sure,” he stated. Not because we are City and the last Champions League winner, you can’t take it for granted, you have to earn it and do it. The first half was not [good] even some moments in the second half. There are moments you have to be better. We will learn hopefully,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Phil Foden, who was the star of the night, spoke about the importance of City getting the first goal in the second half, as they searched eagerly for a turnaround. However, he did admit that their first half performance was not good enough. “It was a game of two halves, that was the worst I’ve seen us in the first half. We played a lot better in the second, we only needed one goal, once the first went in the motivation was there and we kept pushing, playing out football and it paid off,” he explained.
He added: “We have got a great record at the Etihad, only takes one goal to change things,” explained Foden. It changed the full rhythm of the game I think the first goal that we scored. Julian (Alvarez) is a great player, he is always a threat when he comes off the bench. He is a fantastic player, he always makes a difference for us, he is having a brilliant season and he is important for us.”
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