Yahoo Finance Pep Guardiola admits Man City undone by ‘fantastic’ Lionel Messi goal in Champions League defeat to PSG
Pep Guardiola was reluctant to criticise his Manchester City side after their 2-0 Champions League defeat to PSG, instead hailing Lionel Messi’s “fantastic” first goal for the French outfit.
Messi’s strike 16 minutes from time sealed the three points for the Parisians after Idrissa Gueye’s early opener but the scoreline was hardly reflective of what was an entertaining and evenly-matched game.
The Spaniard’s side showed much of the dominance of possession that had seen them outplay Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday but on this occasion failed to find the net as Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva both hit the woodwork, the latter from just yards out with the goal gaping.
“[It was a] good performance,” Guardiola told BT Sport. “We did everything. We could not score.
“We defend well, they defend deep and of course the counter-attack of them is always dangerous with the quality they have but we controlled them and unfortunately we could not score. That’s football. Nothing to say except my biggest compliment to the team.”
MESSI AND MBAPPE COMBINE FOR A BEAUTIFUL GOAL!
It was a matter of time before they clicked, and it was worth the wait 🔥#UCL pic.twitter.com/5scpcQw1ty— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) September 28, 2021
Guardiola knows Messi better than most having managed the Argentine throughout his four seasons in charge of Barcelona, the pair winning the Champions League twice.
“The goal was fantastic,” Guardiola added.
City’s big week ends with a clash against Liverpool on Sunday, and Guardiola said: “Now we are going to eat good tonight, we are going to drink a glass of wine, we are going to recover and we are going to prepare for the game on Sunday.”
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