After Manchester City and Leeds United battled to a 1-1 draw, Pep Guardiola revealed that he struggled to answer a question posed by Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa; per Sky Sports.
Raheem Sterling opened the scoring in the Saturday fixture, but Leeds got the equaliser through Rodrigo who capitalised on an error from Citu goalkeeper Ederson. After the match, both the managers had a moment where they embraced each other and shared a few words.
Guardiola revealed what his counterpart said to him right after the game concluded; telling Sky Sports:
“He asked me what I thought about the game. I said I’m not able to analyse the game after one second, I’m not able to process it!”
“Maybe he’s cleverer than me! I’m not. I need time to process how was the game, but you know I said that I thought it was a good game, it was fair and that’s why the result was the result.”
"It was good, eh?"
Pep Guardiola says #LUFC proved to be a very good test for his side and that a 1-1 draw was a fair result. pic.twitter.com/z51wSApfhO
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 3, 2020
The City boss was full of praise for Leeds’ performance while also admitting that they are tough side to play against, adding:
“Leeds put a lot of players behind our midfield line. After that they attacked incredibly quickly with fast players outside. It’s not easy to play against them. They’ve showed how good they are.”
This was a particularly sweet moment for the City manager as Bielsa is an inspiration for him in the managerial world. He even once described the Argentine as the best manager in the world.
Despite how good their opponents were, City expected to get the three points. One reason they failed to do so was their lack of healthy strikers.
Riyad Mahrez started as the centre forward which was not ideal for troubling the opposition defence. Leeds like to play an intense game, especially when it comes to their pressing and that was on full display here. Even a team as good as City found that hard to deal with and players such as Kalvin Phillips put their mark on the game.
Bielsa and Guardiola will face off at least once more and if Saturday is any indication, it will be another enthralling game. Two teams that focus on attacking is always going to produce interesting results as was the case here.