Pep Guardiola has defended the tactics he used for Man City's defeat to Monaco in the Champions League last night.
Two goals in the first half did the majority of the damage as City bowed out of the competition on the away goals rule following a second leg 3-1 defeat on the night, which equated a to 6-6 scoreline on aggregate.
Leroy Sane scored shortly after the restart following some sustained pressure from City to edge them back in front, but a third Monaco goal from Tiemoue Bakayoko restored their lead, and sent the Premier League side crashing out of the competition.
Guardiola fielded an attacking side for the tie, but they failed to hit any shots on target in the first half. Despite his tactics failing in the end, the Spaniard defended his managerial choices.
In the post-match press conference, he said:
"All managers make mistakes but I don't think it was down to a tactical mistake."
"It's simple. The difference was between the first and the second half. In the second half we tried to win the game, we tried to play. I did it all my career in that way."
He added:
"No, it's not about the defence. Today was not about that. Why was the second half a problem with the defence?"
"The problem was the first half when we were not there. Our strikers have to be aggressive and pick the ball up, but we didn't. At this crucial time. That's why we are out.
"We have to play more than 45 minutes. It's not about the defence and the goalkeeper. In the second half we won the second balls and how many chances did they create? Nothing."
"The gap between our first and second half performances was too big. It will help us a lot in the future and learn from that. That is my feeling now."
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