Pep Guardiola’s substitutions seriously hampered Manchester City’s play against Real Madrid | OneFootball

At times, a well-timed substitution can change the course of a match. We have seen this occur countless times across every level of football. Last night saw Pep Guardiola make five substitutions during Manchester City’s 3-2 loss to Real Madrid. But you could argue that three of Pep Guardiola’s substitutions hampered City’s play last night during the closing stages of their defeat at the Etihad.

First of all, it has to be said that two of Pep Guardiola’s substitutions were forced. Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji picked up injuries and couldn’t continue. They were replaced by Phil Foden and Rico Lewis. Foden played well after he came on, and although Lewis was caught out for Jude Bellingham’s late winner, he did a serviceable job at best at right-back. It was Pep Guardiola’s three other substitutions that appeared to hamper City’s play.

Nathan Ake was replaced by Mateo Kovacic in the 61st minute of last night’s match. Ake couldn’t see out the full 90 minutes in his first game back from injury. But Ake’s substitution forced John Stones to come out of midfield and step in at centre-back alongside Ruben Dias. That move weakened City’s midfield. Stones was playing superbly in midfield up until that point. However, it has to be said that at the time of the substitution, Real Madrid was winning the midfield battle. It was an understandable move to a degree but Kovacic doesn’t provide the control in midfield that Manchester City need. It isn’t in his game as we have seen across this season. Maybe bringing on Abdukodir Khusanov for Ake and leaving Stones in midfield may have had a different result. Maybe it wouldn’t have but City’s midfield did suffer with Stones shifted to centre-back.

READ MORE: It’s the players Pep Guardiola trusts the most that are letting City down.

In the 84th minute, Pep Guardiola brought on Ilkay Gundogan and Omar Marmoush for Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho. The introduction of Marmoush didn’t really affect the game one way or another. But the introduction of Ilkay Gundogan saw him join Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic in midfield. From there, Manchester City couldn’t keep control of the game, and Real Madrid’s two late goals came after that tactical move and after two Manchester City errors. Perhaps Nico Gonzàlez could’ve added the control that City needed. However, you do get the impression that Nico wasn’t fit enough to feature last night. It’s been clear for some time that Bernardo Silva, Mateo Kovacic and Ilkay Gundogan cannot provide City with the control and legs they need when they all play together in midfield. We have seen this stand out on several occasions this season and it was on show at the Etihad last night.

Pep Guardiola’s late substitutions didn’t aid City’s cause last night. In the end, going back to a well that’s dry didn’t help Manchester City control the game as they needed to. Real Madrid seized upon these tactical moves to come away from the Etihad with a 3-2 win. Now it’s left Pep Guardiola’s side a mountain to climb in the second leg of their Champions League tie at the Bernabeu. Now you do wonder what moves Guardiola will make, considering the moves he made last night didn’t come off, and they did involve several of his most trusted players.