'When you are alone and lose balls easily..'- Pep Guardiola critical of Kevin's performance in the Champions League opener

The Champions League opener for Manchester City and Inter-Milan seemed to be a rematch of the 2023 Champions League final, where Manchester City struggled to penetrate Inter's strong defense at the Etihad Stadium.

Pep Guardiola expressed pride in Manchester City's performance, despite their inability to score in a goalless draw against Inter, stating, "We are a fantastic team."

The Tale of Missed Opportunities 

Substituted midfielder Ilkay Gundogan missed two great scoring chances near the end of the match for the home team, while Inter themselves came close to securing three points through Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Erling Haaland, on the other hand, managed to make 14 touches, the fewest of all 22 starters, thwarting his attempt to reach 100 goals for City. Despite City's failure to score for only the second time in 42 home Champions League games under Guardiola, he refused to criticize his players. When asked about their performance by TNT Sports, Guardiola stated that he liked everything about the fixture. He felt his side played exceptionally well and asserted them to be a fantastic team.

The gaffer felt that his side gave a commanding performance against a side who are known to defend well. He was critical of the fact that his players lost few one-on-one chances but explained that it's not possible to create many chances when the opposition sits so deep in line.

The Gaffer Critical of Kevin's performance 

Pep Guardiola was also critical of Kevin De Bruyne's performance. He felt that the Belgian lost easy balls which resulted in counter-attacks that could not be stopped. He felt Kevin could have been more precise, especially towards the left side of his playing position.

Pep Guardiola: “When you are alone and lose easy balls, it’s a counterattack - it’s IMPOSSIBLE to stop it. You have to be more precise. It happened especially on the left side with Kevin De Bruyne…”

Manchester City will next face Slovan Bratislava while Inter Milan will be up against Crvena Zvezda in their upcoming Champions League fixtures