Guardiola highlighted the work of the Brazilian Gabriel Jesus and described him as “the man of the tie.”
By:
EFE
–
–
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City coach, assured at a press conference this Friday, August 7, that he has “a lot of admiration for what Zidane has done” in football and that whenever he answers about Real Madrid, he does so “from the heart ”.
“If I say that winning the league is better than the Champions League, I am anti-Madrid. If I say that they are very good, then I praise them. I have met many madridistas and I have a great relationship with them. I have a lot of respect for them. Zidane has won three Champions and I can only have admiration for what he has done. I answer what comes out of my heart, “he said.
“For Madrid or Barcelona, winning a big team in the round of 16 is normal. For us it is important because we have only been here in the last decade, it is important for the club, for the players, for the fans ”, he added.
On the errors of Raphael Varane, which precipitated the goals of City, Guardiola blamed them on the competition. “This competition punishes you and I also believe that Gabriel (Jesus) contributed to cause those failures,” said the Spaniard.
City sealed their place in the quarterfinals of the Champions League after winning 4-2 on aggregate in the tie against Real Madrid.
“From the bench you can see the naturalness with which they play these games. A team that has won the League and three Champions in a row, I would like to give credit to what we have done. I prefer the second part above all. The first was very similar to the Bernabéu game, “he added.
“It will help us to realize that we can achieve it,” he said in reference to winning the Champions League.
The man in the tie
Guardiola highlighted the work of the Brazilian Gabriel Jesus and described him as “the man of the tie” for his performances both in the first leg: goal and caused a penalty; as in the return: both and assistance.
“De Bruyne has been very good. The first part has cost him, but he is an extraordinary player; when he can run a little he is unique. I think Gabriel is the man in the tie. He scored the goal and caused the penalty in the first leg and gave the assist and scored a goal in the second leg … In general we have been in a good tone. The bad things we have done are because the rival is very good, “he commented on Movistar +.
“In the second half we were better than them. What worried me the most was putting up with the bad times, when you’re in front of them you realize the packaging they have and that they know how to play these games like no one else. In the first part we played a bit with the handbrake. His middle three are very good and Benzema is one thing … very good too. Curiously, we have not scored in the ones we have created, but we have scored in being intense in the pressure and in the mistakes they have made, ”he analyzed about the game.
Guardiola recalled that Manchester City still does not have a history in the ‘Champions’ and he was happy to be able to participate in it: “We are very, very happy because we have eliminated the champion three times in a row. Much remains, but for our club, which has no weight in Europe, we are participating in creating it. We are very happy to be able to go to Lisbon, ”he said.
Finally, the Spanish coach commented on his relaxed chat with Frenchman Zinedine Zidane at the end of the match: “I congratulated him on the League and to know how his family was doing. Nothing special. Hopefully one day we can have dinner together and be able to talk ”, he concluded.
–
