Maybe Pep Guardiola didn’t even tell his Manchester City players he’d been sent off at half time in last night’s match against Liverpool.
After complaining to the referee at the end of the first half, the Catalan manager was told not to return for the second part of the game, having watched the rest of it from the stands.
And when speaking to the Brazilian media after the 2-1 defeat, Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus claimed he didn’t even notice the manager wasn’t on the team’s bench at first. It took him a while to realise.
“I didn’t realise he was sent off. Only after 15 or 20 minutes I suddenly looked at the bench and saw that he wasn’t there. Then I learned that he was sent off.” (via UOL)
But he claims Guardiola’s absence from the bench didn’t have much of an impact in Manchester City’s second half: “It doesn’t disturb anyone, because we are well trained. We don’t need the manager to be telling us what to do all the time. I think itdidn’t change anything.”
Gabriel Jesus was obviously frustrated with the result, and even though Manchester City are still close to getting the Premier League title, he talked about the effect these last three defeats should have on the season.
“From the first game of the season the games are difficult. Today, unfortunately, we couldn’t qualify. These three losses are complicated. Unfortunately for some, this erases all we did this season.
“Being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League complicates, it upsets us a little, because you’re there close to it. But we leave with our heads up because we didn’t play badly. And we lost to a great team, which is Liverpool. Congratulations to them.”
