The Public Must Change Mindset After Manchester City Failed To Win From RB Leipzig, Pep Guardiola: That's Not The Reality

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola. (Photo: Twitter @ManCity)

JAKARTA - Manchester City could not do much when they visited RB Leipzig headquarters in the first leg of the last 16 of the Champions League, Thursday, February 23, early morning WIT. The two teams only drew 1-1 at the Red Bull Arena, Leipzig.

Manchester City actually immediately dominated possession, but they just failed to take advantage of a number of opportunities that existed.

New City managed to break the deadlock in the 27th minute. Riyad Mahrez, who received the ball from Ilkay Gundogan, broke into the Leipzig goal with his left-foot shot.

The Citizens failed to maintain that advantage. The home fans finally cheered after Leipzig equalized in the 70th minute.

Starting from Marcel Halstenberg's corner kick in front of the goal, Josip Gvardiol jumped and headed the ball into Ederson's goal to make the score 1-1.

This draw was unfair to the City. The reason is, the English Premier League club dominated ball possession, which was around 63 percent.

City supporters were also very disappointed. However, manager Pep Guardiola, asked the public to be able to accept it.

"People hoped we would win 5-0, that's not the case. It's already past the group stage in a very competitive competition and a lot of other strong teams," Guardiola told BT Sport.

"It's difficult, we know that. It's our fourth game in 10 days, away game, long drive and people are expecting (win)."

"I know we are a good team, and we keep doing good things. But people expect us to come here and win 4 or 5-0, we can't do that," he continued.

This result is actually enough capital for The Citizens to qualify for the next round. The reason is, in the second leg, they will host Leipzig at the Etihad Stadium on March 15, 2023.

A 0-0 draw was enough to lead them to the Champions League quarter-finals this season.

Line Up

RB Leipzig (4-2-2-2): Janis Blaswich; Lukas Klostermann (46' Benjamin Henrichs), Willi Orban, Josko Gvardiol, Marcel Halstenberg; Konrad Laimer, Xaver Schlager (82' Amadou Haidara); Dominik Szoboszlai, Emil Forsberg (66' Christopher Nkunku); Timo Werner, Andre Silva (82' Yussuf Poulsen).

Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake; Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan; Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland.