Craig Burley has been baffled by what he’s heard from Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s recent Champions League match against Real Madrid.
The Citizens were knocked out of the Champions League last night after losing 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw between the two sides in extra time.
After the game, the City boss shared some interesting details about what happened during the latter stages of the match, which has since blown the mind of one particular pundit, who wasn’t shy in sharing his thoughts on the matter.
Burley astonished by Guardiola revelation after Man City vs Real Madrid
Speaking in a recent video shared on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Burley had this to say after hearing Guardiola say that Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland asked to be substituted off during extra time due to fitness reasons.
He said: “No way. They asked to be taken off? I’ve never, ever, ever known a player, unless they’re injured, even then [to ask to be subbed off].
“Fatigue? It’s the quarter-final of the Champions League. Big games, you play on until you drop. [Dani] Carvajal had to come off because he had to come off.
“I’m not having that, I’m not having it. Erling Haaland is in his early twenties, played 90 minutes only, are we saying he can’t play anymore? He had to be injured, it has to be something.
“Kevin De Bruyne has had injuries, but if there’s one man who has been taken off recently and has looked like he wanted to rip his manager’s head off, it’s him.
“So do you think he’s going to ask to come off against Real Madrid? There’s more to that story.”
Was Pep Guardiola right to take Haaland and De Bruyne off?
After completing 81 minutes in last weekend’s Premier League match against Luton Town, De Bruyne and Haaland played the full 90 minutes in last night’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie.
The striker was substituted for Julian Alvarez at the start of extra time, whereas De Bruyne was swapped for Mateo Kovacic with just eight minutes left until the penalty shoot-out commenced.
Even though Haaland had just 21 touches of the ball last night, his constant movement and runs would have contributed to his apparent lack of fitness in the final stage of what was a hard-fought game for the Blues.
With the midfielder, he had 113 touches in total but was manoeuvring around the pitch a lot more than the Norwegian was, which, in addition to the injury issues he’s faced this season as Burley mentioned, would make it more understandable that the 32-year-old couldn’t continue.
Bearing in mind how City still have the FA Cup and Premier League left to fight for this season, we feel that while it may have been surprising at the time, taking Haaland and De Bruyne off if they felt they couldn’t carry on was the safe thing for Guardiola to do, regardless of what they may have offered in the penalty shoot-out.
