Pep Guardiola shock with ‘lightweight’ Kevin De Bruyne move in Man City collapse
Pep Guardiola’s substitutions stunned as Man City were left at risk of elimination from the Champions League after defeat to PSG, as Danny Mills reacted.
After a goalless first half, the Spaniard made two changes at half-time with Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis replacing Savinho and Ruben Dias respectively.
That initially worked well with the Premier League champions quickly taking a 2-0 lead after the break in Paris on Wednesday (22 January).
PSG though quickly pulled level at 2-2 by the hour-mark and then proceeded to dominate the game, putting Man City under considerable pressure.
That prompted Guardiola to make another double change, with James McAtee and Ilkay Gundogan coming on for Kevin De Bruyne and Mateo Kovacic.
Mills though was unconvinced by those alterations, and speaking about them on Sky Sports Soccer Special (9:29pm), the former England international said:
“It’s had the opposite effect. Dembele, it’s a great little nutmeg on Bernardo Silva down the inside right-hand side, inside the box, and he fires it goal-wards and it comes off the crossbar. Very, very unlucky.
“But you’re right, Gundogan’s come on for Kovacic, McAtee on for Kevin De Bruyne. I mean who am I to question Pep Guardiola? But I just think McAtee, very, very good footballer, but a little bit lightweight when you’re getting swarmed all over.
“Gundogan hasn’t particularly got legs when any more when teams are swarming at you. I think it’s gonna be a long 20 minutes for Man City.”
Danny Mills substitution concerns proved accurate for Man City
Football Insider Verdict
Sadly for Guardiola and his side those changes he made were unable to turn the course of the game back into their favour.
PSG continued to dominate Man City, enjoying control of the vast majority of what remained of the game as those substitutes were unable to lay much of a finger on their hosts.
That eventually proved telling with the French champions scoring twice more to secure a 4-2 win that felt very much deserved.
As a result the Premier League champions now have a must-win game against Club Brugge next Wednesday (29 January) if they want to stay in the Champions League.
But with the injuries they are dealing with, there were very few other options for Guardiola to turn to on the Man City bench when he made that substitution.
He may therefore have had no choice but to bring these players on if he felt he needed to manage the workload of others, arguably proving why they have been so active in the January transfer window.
In other news, Man City are exploring a deal to re-sign one of their former players this month.
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