Pep Guardiola says he knew RB Leipzig would come back at Man City in Champions League draw

Pep Guardiola cut a frustrated figure after Manchester City were denied a late penalty and held to a 1-1 draw at RB Leipzig.

City fell back on 70 minutes when Josko Gvardiol canceled out Riyad Mahrez’s first half, then at the moment of death referee Serdar Gozubuyuk was unable to award the visitors a penalty kick as Benjamin Henrichs threw his hands at the ball at the area as City attacked a corner.

“I saw my players but not the image,” Guardiola said. ‘It was checked. But we are not talking about arbitration decisions. The referee decided no.

But Guardiola insisted that he always knew that reaching the top-flight players in the Bundesliga would be a tough game away from home and had predicted the tie would hang in the balance before the second leg at the Etihad in three weeks.

Explaining the chances City conceded in the second half, he said: “They stepped up and we talked at half-time.” He said: “Forget our dominance, this is not going to happen in the second half, the coach and the fans will not accept it.”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaks to his players after the draw with RB Leipzig

Riyad Mahrez initially dismissed the English champions up front after 27 minutes at Red Bull Arena

‘And our pressing intensity was not accurate like the first half. We don’t have a team to compete with them in transitions, they are better than us, they are getting faster.

‘The rhythm that they have, we don’t have, and that’s why we have to have the game with this control that we had in the first half. We had chances out of nowhere and we were always a threat from set pieces.

Guardiola took to the field to cheer on his players at the end of the controversial incident involving Leipzig substitute Henrichs.

“I spoke to them because they had their heads down,” Guardiola added. ‘I said, “Why are you guys down? Heads up! If people don’t like it, it doesn’t matter. You played the game you needed to play.” It’s the Champions League. All the teams are very strong. I didn’t want to lose 4-3 here.

‘We had the control we need to have. He had the feeling that it would be decided in the second leg.

There is a lost concept in football when people say: “Why were you bad in the second half?” Why can’t they think that Leipzig is a good team?

Leipzig head coach Marco Rose said: “We were too passive in the first half and just ran after them.

“The second half was different, exactly as we had envisioned it and we put them under pressure.”

Josko Gvardiol’s header gave RB Leipzig a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Wednesday