Storm over Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s thud with Bayer Leverkusen

It is blizzard around Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s Saturday defeat against Newcastle in the Premier League and after the home thud against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, caused by the massive turnover operated by the Catalan coach.

For his 100th European bench with the Citizens Guardiola changed as many as ten starters, only to regret it later in the game and bring in all his stars from the bench against the Germans. But it was no use, and in the press conference he had to defend himself against the criticism that immediately rained down on him. Here are his words.

“I have to accept the criticism. If we had won it would not have been a problem, but maybe there were too many changes. I always said the season would be long and everyone should be involved, but maybe it was too much. It was not the performance we expected. I take full responsibility. We lost something. We missed an’incredible opportunity”.

Already after the lost match against Newcastle Guardiola had to apologize for ripping the headset off a cameraman’s head out of nervousness. In short, it is certainly not a good moment for a coach who, at the European level, is one of the most titled in the history of soccer with three Champions Leagues and four European Super Cups, as well as four World Cups for clubs.