Pep Guardiola has lifted the lid on Kevin De Bruyne’s actions that left him frustrated in the second half of their 4-0 crushing of Real Madrid as Manchester City reached the Champions League final. The Premier League champions’ Treble quest now looks to be more of a realistic goal than distant dream as they sent the 14-time winners crashing out in the semi-final second leg. But despite a near-complete performance, Guardiola still wasn’t entirely satisfied.
A first-half double from Bernardo Silva and late strikes from Manuel Akanji and substitute from Julian Alvarez were enough to hand City a comprehensive victory over their Spanish opposition, who were way below their best level and completely outclassed on the night.
It could have been even more embarrassing for Carlo Ancelotti’s side without a series of top saves from Thibaut Courtois as City threatened to run riot. But Guardiola pointed to a moment in the first half when his side were 2-0 up that angered him, as the 52-year-old criticised De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan for failing to follow his instructions.
“In the second half we were very hasty,” he told Movistar+. “As soon as Gundogan went out, he lost a ball, Kevin made three transitions that weren’t necessary and we accelerated a lot when we had to do the opposite, to put them down and turn them around a lot. That’s why we weren’t so good.”
While De Bruyne and Gundogan were surprisingly called out by their manager, the Catalan reserved praise for the excellent Rodri for making them tick in the centre of the park after a dominant display over the likes of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
“Without him we wouldn’t have done it, he’s become the best midfielder,” Guardiola said. “He’s been imperial, in everything.
“People talk about Erling [Haaland] and it’s logical, he deserves it, but without Rodri it wouldn’t have been possible. His presence is very important.”
Guardiola is usually humble enough to praise his players for their performances rather than his own tactical decisions, but the City boss was willing to make an exception about the key change that left Real struggling to contain his side at the Etihad on Tuesday night.
“In the first leg I decided to put an inside player further back and today we decided to put him further forward and that gave us more fluidity. We were very good afterwards,” he added.
“We’ve played with last year’s bellyache and we’ve taken it out. These games have to be played with great intensity, and I’m very happy to be in the final.”
City can now look forward to the possibility of wrapping up the Premier League title against Chelsea this weekend before their FA Cup final against Manchester United next month.
And they win both the league and cup, they can clinch the Treble against Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul on June 10.
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