Why did Pep Guardiola suck the joy and freedom out of Manchester City?


With Bernardo and David Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Ben Foden left on the bench, City spent much of the Champions League defeat to Lyon crouched behind a defensive guard

You failed. No matter. Fail again. Fail in pretty much exactly the same way.

How many times, Pep, how many times? The idea that Pep Guardiola over‑complicates knockout games has become such a truism it seems impossible a manager of such clarity of thought could still be following that pattern; still finding ways to insert his own anxieties,his maniacal intellectualism into the fine details of elite knockout football.

Related: No excuses for Manchester City's defeat to Lyon, says Pep Guardiola

Related: Dembélé at the double as Lyon crush Man City's Champions League dream

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