Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has spoken out about his decision to rest Kevin De Bruyne in his side's FA Cup semi-final defeat to Liverpool.
The Reds raced to a 3-0 lead at half-time, courtesy of Ibrahima Konate’s opener and a brace from Sadio Mane. Though City attempted to fight back after the break, the damage was already done in the first half as Jurgen Klopp’s side kept their quadruple hopes alive.
Having been a fitness doubt prior to the game, it was little surprise to see City talisman De Bruyne begin the afternoon on the bench. However, Guardiola was subsequently criticised for not turning to the Belgian midfielder when his side were chasing the game and has offered an explanation for his decision.
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“He still had four stitches in his right foot when he hit the ball,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference. “He could walk and run, but the ball was disturbing him and at the end if he plays and opens up two or three stitches maybe we lose him more.
“Of course, Kevin was happy in the condition and could play maybe from the beginning because he feels fit, maybe to play in the second half, but I didn’t want to take the risk to lose him, in case it opened up the injury again or got an infection. That’s why I took that decision. When you play a lot of games and tough ones, these situations can happen.”
Despite finding his side trailing 3-0 at the interval, the Spanish coach waited until the 83rd minute to make his first substitution, bringing on Riyad Mahrez in place of Gabriel Jesus. Having been without the injured Kyle Walker, and had fitness concerns over Ruben Dias, Guardiola appeared to bemoan the size of his squad.
“Kevin could not play, Kyle could not play, but it is what it is with the season we have,” he continued. “We have the situation, but it is what it is. We play a lot of games and we don’t have the biggest squad. When everyone’s fit it’s okay, but if there’s a few injuries it’s not enough.
“Riyad was fit, Rodri [too]. The other ones there were problems,” Guardiola added. “Of course, had we scored the third goal, I’m pretty sure in extra time we could do it [make changes], but in this moment we didn't have many options.”
