Pep Guardiola season verdict given by his Man City boss after Champions League exit

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straight to your inbox Kevin De Bruyne would not have become the player he is had he not teamed up with Pep Guardiola. That is the view of Vincent Kompany, the Manchester City midfielder’s former teammate for both club and country, who has revealed he pulled out all the stops to attract his countryman to Manchester in 2015 – when Bayern Munch and Paris St Germain were also in the hunt.

straight to your inbox Pep Guardiola paid tribute to the Manchester City players that have gone before Kevin De Bruyne after the playmaker became the first person at the club to win the PFA Player of the Year award. De Bruyne's quality is obvious to anyone that has worked with him, and his latest accolade serves as recognition from those that have played against him.

straight to your inboxNathan Ake has been signed to bolster Manchester City's central defensive options, but the new signing has hinted that manager Pep Guardiola plans to use him in midfield as well.Ake signed from Bournemouth in a £40m deal, becoming the first centre-back signing since Vincent Kompany departed last summer.

straight to your inbox Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has questioned whether Lionel Messi would be a good fit at Manchester City. Messi has been heavily linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium this summer, making it clear he wants out of Barcelona.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola's ego has prevented him from replicating his success at Barcelona, according to Germany legend Lothar Matthaus.Guardiola has not won the Champions League since leaving Barcelona, or even reached a final, but has won 13 domestic trophies - including five league titles - at Bayern Munich and Manchester City in eight seasons.That is not good enough for Matthaus, though, with the 1990 World Cup winner calling Guardiola 'egocentric' for his insistance on changing

straight to your inbox Leroy Sane has praised his former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for reprogramming his tactical awareness as he prepares to make his Bayern Munich debut. Sane played under Guardiola for four years at City, but his exit came in less than ideal circumstances following a season out injured, where the German winger informed the club he wouldn't be signing a new contract.

straight to your inbox Manchester City's hierarchy have always believed Lionel Messi would stay at Barcelona for the rest of his career... but that might have just changed.

straight to your inbox Aleks Zinchenko has defended his comments and those of his new wife Vlada Sedan about Manchester City's Champions League loss to Lyon. Pep Guardiola was heavily criticised after the 3-1 defeat in Lisbon last week, and the manager's tactics were disputed by sports presenter Sedan on her vlog as she discussed the game with Zinchenko.

straight to your inboxAleks Zinchenko has broken the dressing room silence over Pep Guardiola’s Champions League tactics.The Manchester City defender implied that the manager got things wrong by picking three centre backs in the quarter-final against Lyon.And his fiancee, sports reporter Vlada Sedan, joined in the criticism, calling the tactical set-up employed by Guardiola a “bummer”.Zinchenko has been out of favour at City, only starting once since his mistake had led to defeat at Southampton,

straight to your inboxHere are the latest Man City evening headlines for Tuesday August 18.Former Barcelona midfielder Xavi has encouraged Manchester City to back Pep Guardiola in the transfer market.Guardiola crashed out of the Champions League against Lyon last week, and is still to reach a Champions League final since departing the Spanish giants.

straight to your inboxSpain and Barcelona legend Xaxi Hernandez has urged Manchester City to back Pep Guardiola in the summer transfer market by securing marquee additions.City endured a disappointing campaign last term, finishing 18 points adrift of Liverpool in the Premier League and suffering a Champions League exit at the hands of Lyon.A host of names have been linked with a move to the Etihad Stadium this summer and Xavi believes that three players are needed in particular.However, he's set

straight to your inboxDavid Silva has issued praise to all three of the managers he played under at Manchester City, in his final interview before leaving the club.Silva was brought to the Etihad by Roberto Mancini, before seeing Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola also take the City hotseat in the last decade.As he prepares to leave City for a new challenge, Silva told City TV that Mancini made a strong effort to try and sign him while he was still a Valencia player."He used to call me quite

straight to your inbox Andreas Pereira leaped to the defence of teammate Victor Lindelof following Manchester United's exit from the Europa League.Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side went out of Europe on Sunday night after they let an early lead slip against Spanish side Sevilla.Bruno Fernandes had given United the lead from the penalty spot early on before former Liverpool winger Suso drew his side level before half-time.United dominated proceedings after the break but were wasteful in front of goal

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola insists Manchester City will recover from their agonising defeat to Lyon to attempt to reach the Champions League semi-finals next season.City were firm favourites to progress against Lyon in the one-legged affair, but were below-par on the night when everything went against them. Lyon deservedly led at half time, before Kevin De Bruyne's strike eventually pulled them level.

straight to your inboxPep Guardiola said his Manchester City players were well-prepared to play in an unusual formation before crashing out of the Champions League.The Blues began with three central defenders, but never truly looked like themselves until Guardiola switched things by replacing Fernandinho with Riyad Mahrez ten minutes into the second half.That led to the manager being severely criticised for tinkering with City’s set-up.But he said they had been developing it on their Lisbon