Pep Guardiola reveals reason for ‘cut’; claims struggling Man City star was ‘best player’ vs Feyenoord

Pep Guardiola revealed why he had a “cut” on his nose and scratches on his head after Manchester City collapsed in their 3-3 draw against Feyenoord.

Man City headed into Tuesday’s Champions League group match against Feyenoord after suffering an embarrassing 4-0 home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening.

This defeat was their fifth straight loss across all competitions and Guardiola‘s side desperately needed a confidence-building result/performance against Feyenoord.

The Premier League side were very flat for much of the first half but led at the break after Erling Haaland scored from the penalty spot. They appeared to take the game away from Feyenoord as the forward and Ilkay Gundogan netted after the interval to make it 3-0.

However, Man City’s game management was poor as they let Feyenoord into the game. After he struggled against Spurs, two sloppy passes by Josko Gvardiol resulted in two goals (scored by Anis Hadj Moussa and Santiago Gimenez) before David Hancko capitalised on some poor defending to score a shock equaliser in the 89th minute.

Guardiola seemed frustrated for much of the game. When interviewed post-match, it was noticed that he had scratches on his head and a cut on his nose.

When asked how he got his cut, Guardiola revealed. “I cut it with my finger.” He then jokingly said: “I want to hurt myself.”

On City’s collapse, he added: “The game is never over but at 3-0 I could not see any danger.”

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He continued: “I don’t know if it is a mental thing.

“The game was fine at 3-0, playing good, but then we concede a lot of goals because we were not stable. We gave them the first and then the other one, that is why it was difficult.

“The situation is what it is. We played a good game but at that level we can’t give them away.”

Andros Townsend and Gael Clichy hit out at Gvardiol but Guardiola claimed he was the “best player on the pitch”.

“It was a comical defensive error from Josko Gvardiol that allowed Feyenoord back into the game and they capitulated,” Townsend said.

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“We have never seen defensive frailties like this from Manchester City before. It seems to be popping up in every single game they’ve played recently.

“They were cruising. In the end, all that hard work from City is undone, and the pressure now mounts even more ahead of the Premier League game against Liverpool.”

Gael Clichy added: “You cannot continue making individual mistakes.

“That has happened in the last six matches. They are missing a vocal leader. A strong leader at the back.”

On Gvardiol, Guardiola said: “Gvardiol will learn. He was the best player on the pitch but I will be so wrong if I point a specific thing at him.

“He is a fantastic player, fantastic boy and more than ever must be helped.”