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After the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola made a shocking revelation about why striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Kevin De Bruyne were subbed out. The Los Blancos registered a 4-3 win in the penalty shootout after the score was tied at 4-4 over the two legs.
After a gruelling 90 minutes with scores tied at 1-1, Haaland was taken out at the 91st-minute mark and replaced by Julián Álvarez. Then in the 112th minute, De Bruyne was subbed out as Guardiola brought out Mateo Kovacic.
Haaland and De Bruyne asked me to go out: Pep Guardiola
Guardiola, in his post-match press conference, said, "Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne asked me to go out. They could not continue. In the game they were amazing. I didn’t plan to make a lot of substitutions but they asked me to go out because they could not continue."
They defended so deep: Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola also took a sly dig a Real Madrid's defensive approach in second-leg by complementing Carlo Ancelotti's men about being deep defensively. The Spaniard said, "I would prefer to win, first of all. Congrats to Real Madrid. They defended so deep. We did everything. I have no regrets.
"We played expectational in all departments and unfortunately, we could not win. That’s what it is. They defended deeper than in previous seasons. We created chances but football is about scoring goals and they did it better than us," he continued.
