Pep Guardiola DEFENDS decision to not make any substitutions during 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig

Pep Guardiola has defended his decision not to make any changes during Man City’s draw with RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

The Premier League champions drew 1-1 with the Bundesliga side after Josko Gvardiol canceled out Riyad Mahrez’s first-half goal for the visitors.

A plethora of Man City stars, including Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez, watched from the bench as Guardiola opted not to make a substitution and the manager later explained his reason for doing so.

According to the Manchester evening newsGuardiola said: “I have the opportunity to have five substitutions, I am the coach who applies and I take it if I want to.”

‘It doesn’t mean that if I have the substitutions I have to make the substitutions. I am such a good manager to decide what I have to do or not.’

Pep Guardiola has defended his decision not to make substitutions against RB Leipzig

Man City’s Phil Foden (centre) and Julian Alvarez (right) stayed on the bench for the game.

The Spanish manager hinted that he came close to bringing English star Foden into the game after Gvardiol’s equalizer in the second half, but opted against it.

He explained: ‘I was really pleased with what I was seeing. With Phil having this talent to do this, after the goal I immediately thought about bringing Phil in, but we took the game into our own hands.”

The away side had been on the defensive in the early stages of the second half before Leipzig’s pressure paid off with a goal, but City quickly regained control.

Guardiola said: ‘With this control. Because they play with six in front. Two full-backs as full-backs, four incredible running players.

‘Those positions you need to control. That’s why the players we had, Gundogan, Riyad [Mahrez]you need additional passes.

‘Especially in the first leg, maybe in the second leg, I decide to go crazy and play with nine forwards and do ups and downs. In this game I felt, I’ve been in this country and I need this kind of control.

Up and down, it’s open, one or two actions by Gundo to give Erling the ball they block it. In these situations, the German teams are better than us.’

Despite drawing with their German counterparts, Guardiola’s side were the only English team not to lose the first leg of the round of 16, after Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool all lost in defeats.

Guardiola and his staff watch as the English team drew 1-1 with RB Leipzig

Argentine striker Julián Álvarez has struggled to earn a starting spot over Erling Haaland

The City manager also insisted that he always knew that getting to the big players in the Bundesliga would be a difficult game away from home and predicted that 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.”

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

Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol scored the most important equalizer for Leipzig on the night