UCL: 2 mistakes Guardiola made that exposed City’s defence

Manchester City suffered a disappointing defeat in their crucial game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday evening.

It was a brilliant performance from Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti would be really excited with the result.

Manchester City started the game on a good note as they dominated possession and created a couple of good chances in the early stages of the match.

However, it took Manchester City 73 minutes to find the back of the net. Mahrez managed to beat Courtois from close range with a sublime strike after receiving a brilliant pass from Silva.

Real Madrid scored two goals in the space of two minutes to force the game into extra-time before Karim Benzema sealed a vital win for the home side.

It’s easy to blame Guardiola for Manchester City’s disappointing result against Real Madrid. The Spanish manager made terrible tactical decisions that exposed his team’s defensive shape in the closing minutes of the second half.

We will take a look at two worst tactical decisions made by Guardiola that exposed the team’s defence in today’s game:

1. Bringing on Jack Grealish in a game of such intensity:

Pep Guardiola decided to introduce Jack Grealish in a bid to change the offensive shape of his team. However, Guardiola was supposed to be more concerned about his team’s defensive shape in the closing minutes of the game.

2. Foden and Silva playing deep despite one-goal advantage

Guardiola shouldn’t have allowed Foden and Silva to play offensively deep in the closing minutes of the second half. We all know both players have great attacking qualities and it’s quite normal to deploy them in offensive positions.

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However, Guardiola should have instructed both players to be more defensive in the closing minutes of the game.