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Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne.

Guardiola confirms De Bruyne dropped for tactical reasons

The manager defended his decision to leave the midfielder out of the first XI against Spurs, insisting Manchester City played well

PEP GUARDIOLA HAS confirmed he dropped Kevin De Bruyne from the Manchester City starting line-up for Tuesday’s loss to Tottenham for tactical reasons.

De Bruyne only came off the bench in the 89th minute at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and was unable to inspire a late comeback as City fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

Guardiola chose Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho to support David Silva in midfield, but City did not manage a shot on target after the 47th minute, meaning Son Heung-min’s 78th-minute strike proved decisive after Sergio Aguero missed a first-half penalty.

City boss Guardiola insists his side played well, though, having explained he left out De Bruyne to make the core of his side more defensively sound.

“I decided to play with two holding midfielders in that position to be a bit more solid,” he told a news conference. ”I decided for the other ones. I know it is tough for him [De Bruyne].”

He said of the result: “Now we know what we have to do. I have the feeling the game was quite good. We controlled them and arrived with some quality situations.

In the high competitions, at a high level, you have to live these situations. Now we have another option, another chance and that is the point.

“They had a few chances on the counter-attack but we controlled the game and played quite good.

“If we are not able to arrive in the last stages [of the tournament] it is because it is a challenge. The situation is what it is.

When we don’t play good, I am the guy who says we didn’t play good, but I don’t have that feeling.”

Bernardo Silva was also omitted, having picked up a problem in training, but Guardiola hopes to have him back for next week’s second leg.

“In the season there are injuries, there are problems and I hope Bernardo will be fit in the next week,” he said.

Guardiola has now called on City fans to make the return at the Etihad Stadium a daunting prospect for Spurs, as he attempts to keep his own side’s quadruple challenge on track.

“We did not have a single day to prepare training on the pitch; they had six days,” he said.

“Hopefully, our people can support us every single minute. Hopefully, the Etihad is full with our supporters.

“We know what we have to do: score goals, play as best as possible. We are going to try.”

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    Mute Anthony
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    Apr 10th 2019, 12:53 AM

    It’s a sad state of affairs when the manager has to ask for the fans to fill the stadium for a European quarter final. They really have poor support

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    Mute The Bloody Nine
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    Apr 10th 2019, 1:09 AM

    @Anthony: the stadium is clearly too big for the number of fans they have, don’t think that translates to poor support. Reminds me of Juve at the Stadio Della Alpi, they could never fill it, and eventually built a new smaller stadium to suit their fan base. Although, just like the other top EPL sides, once the tourists start coming they may end up filling it more often.

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    Mute Dave O Keeffe
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    Apr 10th 2019, 1:26 AM

    @The Bloody Nine: imagine the embarrassment of building a stadium then tearing it down 16 years later to replace it with a smaller one due to lack of support!

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    Mute Anthony Shoulderhead
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    Apr 10th 2019, 1:31 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Imagine the embarrassment of going to your stadium for 30 years and not seeing your team win the league. Lol

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    Mute Ben Jamen
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    Apr 10th 2019, 7:50 AM

    @Anthony Shoulderhead: Yeah..it’s called being a true supporter..

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    Mute Dara Hensey
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    Apr 10th 2019, 8:33 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: They didn’t build the stadium, they were given it by the taxpayers.

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    Mute The Bloody Nine
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    Apr 10th 2019, 8:51 AM

    @Dave O Keeffe: Stadio Delle Alpi was built for WC 1990. By all accounts it was a poor stadium as well, fans too far away from the pitch, and crap atmosphere.

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    Mute Michael Graham
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    Apr 10th 2019, 9:17 AM

    @Anthony: city are still in four competitions and it’s expensive to go to all games They have a core support that followed them through thick and thin

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    Mute Aj Leahy
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    Apr 10th 2019, 12:29 AM

    Would de bruyne have changed the game if he started I don’t think so playing with two cdms in the first half to weather the Tottenham storm was intelligent but he should have came on at half time with sane and it would have changed the game and city would have probably nicked it

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    Mute Sheila Teehan
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    Apr 10th 2019, 10:16 AM

    @Aj Leahy: it is half time now so all’s well.

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