Pep Guardiola revealed Erling Haaland was suffering with illness in the build-up to Manchester City’s match with Borussia Dortmund, as he explained his decision to bring the striker off at half-time.
Haaland had a quiet time of things in the first-half on his return to Germany and then did not emerge after the break, as he and Joao Cancelo were replaced by Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji.
Speaking after the match, which finished in a goalless draw to confirm City’s place in the last 16 as group winners, Guardiola confirmed fatigue was the reason behind the early switch.
“Erling had a little bit of a fever before the game, Joao too had a knock on his foot,” Guardiola said.
“I saw him tired, Joao as well, so that’s why we changed it. In that period we struggled a lot.”
Guardiola would have wished Haaland was on the pitch in the second-half, as Mahrez was brought down in the box by a crazy challenge from Emre Can.
With the Norwegian on the bench, Mahrez stepped up himself but saw his penalty saved, two weeks after he failed to convert from the spot in a goalless draw in Copenhagen.
Missed penalties have been an issue for Guardiola’s side in recent years, and the City boss knows it is an issue his side have to find a solution to.
“We will see what happens,” Guardiola said. “Of course it’s a problem - we have missed 24 or 25 penalties [since Guardiola joined], most of them in the Champions League and it’s too much,” Guardiola said.
“I admire the courage to take penalties but this is a problem and we have to improve. These are the little margins in this competition. Last season he scored a lot in important moments, here when we got to the semi-final. I admire the courage but of course we have to improve.”
