Decisions to Manchester City’s starting XI will be hugely important for their second leg tie against Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola has already made his call.
Manchester City’s lineups have been changing a lot in recent weeks, depending on the match and competition.
Last Wednesday saw Pep Guardiola experiment with a few different ideas, but this ultimately ended very badly.
From playing Nico O’Reilly at left-back to starting Savinho, the decisions made by Guardiola failed to pay off.
However, he is seeking to put things right this week with a lineup which was already decided on a day before the last 16 second leg tie against Real Madrid.
Pep Guardiola knows who will start for Manchester City
Another of Guardiola’s strange moves last week was to move Abdukodir Khasanov out to the right-back position. This alteration did not last long, with the 22-year-old moving central against West Ham, while Ruben Dias was benched.
The Man City manager was asked about his plans for the Madrid game and he refused to give away which of his defenders would start. Despite this, Guardiola did reveal that he already knows which players will be lining up at the Eithad Stadium.
Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference: “The selection I have already, more or less. I know the team that is going to start tomorrow. I don’t have any doubts. One doubt maybe, but the rest is clear.”
Guardiola must not try anything too extreme against Real Madrid
Man City’s problem in the first leg was that Guardiola attempted to change things around too much and maybe he has learnt his lesson.
Still, with Real Madrid possessing a three-goal lead in the tie, surely the temptation to try new things is even greater.
Guardiola cannot afford to give into this urge. Instead, he must focus on naming a Man City team sheet which utilises the club’s best players in the positions where they can cause Los Blancos the most damage.
