Manchester City did not put in a vintage performance against Borussia Dortmund in Germany, but ultimately they achieved what they set out to do.
Having already secured a place in the last 16 with a goalless draw in Copenhagen two weeks ago, a point was all City needed from the trip to Signal Iduna Park to clinch top spot in Champions League Group G. That's exactly what they got, although on the evidence of the first half another 0-0 draw seemed an extremely unlikely outcome.
While City, as usual, enjoyed the lion's share of possession, they struggled to create any clear scoring opportunities as Erling Haaland was closely marked by the hosts' back three.
READ MORE: Guardiola sends clear message to City undroppables with ruthless decision vs Dortmund
The main issue was at the other end of the pitch though - for 45 minutes City had little control over proceedings despite seeing a lot of the ball. Dortmund repeatedly hit City on the counter-attack down the Blues' left-hand side but spurned four chances, two of which really should have been converted.
A sure sign that Pep Guardiola was not happy with how things were going was the fact he made a double substitution at half-time, something he hardly ever does. While the manager did later explain that both Haaland and Joao Cancelo were tired and had suffered from slight fevers before the match, the fact remains that when Pep feels his side are playing with a good rhythm he is reluctant to change personnel, even when City are losing.
The introductions of Manuel Akanji and Bernardo certainly helped City to wrestle back control of the match and sure up their rear-guard; although they still struggled to create scoring opportunities, Dortmund barely had a sniff of goal in the second half.
The substitutions weren't the only way Guardiola influenced the match though. Speaking to BT Sport after the game, the City boss explained what he told his players at half-time.
"Make long possessions, they [Dortmund] don't want to press high," he said. "When it happens they [Dortmund] want to push the balls and run [play on the transition]. We adjust a little bit our pressing. In the first half we had a lot of problems in our left side. We did it long possessions, apparently they [Dortmund] thought the result, a draw was good for them, for us as well. That's why we are there."
It's a perfect example of how Guardiola has sought to neutralise opponents that carry great threat on the counter-attack ever since he took charge at City six years ago. Building long spells of possession allows your own players to be in the right positions to defend against counter-attacks, should the opponent regain the ball.
While it had the affect of slowing the game down and making the second half more of an exercise in discipline than an entertaining spectacle, the approach was exactly what City's situation required. Pep's half-time message prevented the second half turning into an end-to-end basketball match with a greater risk of defeat, on an evening when City needed to avoid just that. Job done, if not spectacularly so.
READ MORE:
