Pep Guardiola says he will never change his
tactical philosophy despite his Manchester
City side suffering a 4-0 defeat at former club
Barcelona.
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick against an
exposed City defence and goalkeeper Claudio
Bravo was sent off for handling outside his
box after a misplaced pass.
“There will be no change. Until the last day of
my career as a coach I will try to play from
our keeper,” he said.Barca lead Champions
League Group C with nine points, five ahead
of City.
City were already a goal down in the early
stages of the second half when Bravo
intercepted a through ball, but then gifted
possession to Luis Suarez.
The Chilean goalkeeper, who was stranded
outside his area, then deliberately handled the
Uruguayan’s lob towards goal.
“Sometimes there are mistakes and sometimes
you have to kick the ball out, but most of the
time, when we play good, it starts from there,”
added Guardiola.
“Of course he knows what he did, but he has
a lot of experience and he’s one of best
goalkeepers in last 10 years, so I don’t have
doubts about him.”
City have not won any of their past four
matches but are top of the Premier League
and Guardiola won his first 10 games after he
took charge in the summer.
The 45-year-old said his side needed more
time to be capable of challenging at
Barcelona’s level.“We lost the game 4-0, but
we are a new club, we are getting to know
each other,” he said. “We are a club that for
35 years was not in Europe.
“We came here and played with huge
personality but it is always difficult to play
Barcelona with 11. With 10 the game was
over. Until then the game was open.”
Meanwhile, former Manchester United and
Everton defender, Phil Neville said City were
not of the same standard as their Spanish
rivals.“City are nowhere near where Guardiola
wants them to be,” Champions League winner
Neville told BBC Radio 5 live.
“Barcelona are only at 80% of where they can
be and this shows City are nowhere near them
and will probably struggle to win the
Champions League this year.”
This was the first time the Premier League
leaders had conceded four times in the
competition, which represented another
miserable return to the Nou Camp for
Guardiola.
The Catalan won 14 trophies during his four-
year tenure as Barca boss, but he has now
twice lost heavily to the Spaniards – the other
occasion a 3-0 first-leg semi-final defeat with
Bayern Munich in May 2015.
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