Pep Guardiola has heaped praise on one Manchester City for his performance against Real Madrid last night.
The Manchester club walked away from the Santiago Bernabeu with a 3-3 draw in their first-leg quarter-final clash against Real for the latest Champions League clash between the two side.
After the game, Guardiola highlighted and praised the efforts of one particular City figure who had a very big impact in the game.
Guardiola says ‘lovely’ Man City player was immense against Real Madrid
Speaking to TNT Sports after the draw against Carlo Ancelotti’s side, Guardiola had this to say about Josko Gvardiol, his performance against Real and the fact that he was able to play in the first place after being an injury doubt in the build-up to the game.
He said: “We’re lucky he’s with us and could play, otherwise it’d be so difficult. We don’t have players in the back. An incredible effort, not just the goal. He was amazing, he played really good. Lovely guy, so happy to have him.”
Why Guardiola was so impressed with Gvardiol
In addition to scoring his first goal for the club to put City 3-2 up in the second half of last night’s big game, the 22-year-old showed his defensive qualities by making four tackles, three interceptions and one clearance.
He also won six of the 10 duels he was involved in and didn’t get dribbled past on even one occasion.
The Croatian ultimately earned himself an overall match rating of 7.8/10 from SofaScore, making him the highest-rated player in the City team.
With all of that in mind, it’s easy to see why Guardiola was so impressed with Gvardiol and what he was able to deliver in such a big game.
Looking ahead to next week’s crucial second-leg tie against the Spanish club at the Etihad Stadium, if the defender is able to deliver a similar sort of performance to last night’s display, he could be a key factor in potentially seeing the Blues secure a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.