Monaco: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola vowed his team will not abandon their attacking DNA despite crashing out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
City led Monaco 5-3 after the first leg of their last-16 tie but the French Ligue 1 side hit back to win 3-1 in the return match to reach the quarter-finals on away goals.
Guardiola also admitted that he may have struggled to communicate his wishes to his players at Stade Louis II, especially in the first half when City quickly slipped 2-0 down.
“My philosophy has always been the same, that of attacking. In the first half, I was not able to convince my players to play in a certain way, to motivate them, to show more personality. I knew how to do it after the break,” said Guardiola.
“But the important thing is always to stay true to our DNA, to our style of play. We only did it in the second half.”
Teenage prodigy Kylian Mbappe and Brazilian midfielder Fabinho struck inside the opening half-hour as Monaco wrested away control of the tie.
Leroy Sane pulled one back on 71 minutes as City regained the lead 6-5 on aggregate, but Tiemoue Bakayoko’s terrific header sent the Premier League side tumbling out of the competition.
“It’s how we were in the first 45 minutes, that is the only sad thing for me,” Guardiola told BT Sport after failing to reach the quarter-finals for the first time as a coach.
“You can play and the opponent can beat you but we were not there. At the right moment, you should be there but we were not.”
Despite their initial struggles City re-emerged after the break looking far more threatening, but unlike in Manchester three weeks ago they failed to capitalise on their opportunities in the return clash.
“The way we played the first 45 minutes makes it so difficult, but we had the chances in the second half. We had the chances to score a lot of goals and we didn’t, that’s why we’re out,” said Guardiola.
