Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne yelled at coach Pep Guardiola right after losing the ball in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final, which won 4-0 against Real.
Early in the second half, receiving the ball from Erling Haaland, De Bruyne dribbled instead of passing it to Jack Grealish and was robbed by Eder Militao. On the sidelines, Guardiola was not satisfied, waved his arms and shouted loudly to his student to pass the ball. De Bruyne immediately turned around, angry and shouted "Shut up, shut up" and ran back to the midfield. Guardiola turned and walked into the technical area.
De Bruyne argued with Guardiola right on the field.
In the 84th minute, Guardiola took De Bruyne off the pitch to make way for Phil Foden. The two shook hands, exchanged a brief conversation, then hugged each other on the sidelines. During his time on the pitch, De Bruyne touched the ball 66 times, passed 71% accurately with two key passes, missed the target once, and lost the ball 24 times.
After the match, when asked about the controversy with De Bruyne, Guardiola said that Man City played a bit hastily at the beginning of the second half, and should have controlled the ball better. The Spanish coach also pointed out that Ilkay Gundogan lost the ball dangerously once, and De Bruyne inappropriately passed the ball forward three times.
De Bruyne and Guardiola made up on the pitch, after the Man City coach withdrew the Belgian midfielder near the end of the second half of the Champions League semi-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium on May 17. Photo: Reuters
"But that's normal. When you're close to winning, you rush. We paid the price for that. But overall, Man City had an extraordinary match," Guardiola said.
The 52-year-old coach was also proud when Man City showed their mettle and composure to overcome the pain of losing to Real in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals last season. "The pain that was pent up from last year's defeat was released today. The way we lost last year was really cruel. It felt like medicine, but the whole team had to swallow that poison to come back today," said Guardiola.
Key developments of the match Man City 4-0 Real Madrid.
Guardiola also praised Rodri - the only Man City player to receive a score of 10 from Spanish newspaper Marca . "Everyone talks about Haaland, but without Rodri, Man City would not have reached the final," he said. "Rodri has become Man City's best midfielder and has had a great season."
Crushing Real with a total score of 5-1, Man City continues to dream of winning the treble this season. Guardiola's team will be crowned Premier League champions if they beat Chelsea at Etihad Stadium on May 21, play Man Utd in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on June 3 and meet Inter Milan in the Champions League final at Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on June 10.
Hong Duy
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