Here are your Manchester City morning headlines for Sunday, 16 August.
Guardiola speaks out on Sterling miss
Pep Guardiola says that Raheem Sterling’s glaring miss in Saturday’s defeat by Lyon was “part of the game.”
The England international missed from point-blank range when City were trailing 2-1, before the Ligue 1 side added a third just a minute later to seal the tie.
Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: “I haven't seen him. The players are going to talk now in the hotel. In the locker room the players were sad and now we will do it in the hotel.
“But it’s part of the game. Football, in these competitions we know, we can do many things but in the boxes we have to seriously not concede goals. We conceded, especially the second one with a mistake with the pass.
“The statistics show we were good – we did more than the other ones in terms of everything but it was not enough.”
De Bruyne warning for City teammates
Kevin De Bruyne says his Manchester City teammates “need to learn” from their mistakes after Champions League elimination against Lyon.
It is the Belgian’s fifth season at the club but City are yet to match the semi-final place they achieved in his first campaign at the club, when under Manuel Pellegrini.
The playmaker found the net and was City’s standout attacking threat throughout the game but again it was not enough for the club to succeed on the European stage.
“Different year, same stuff,” De Bruyne told broadcasters after full time.
“First half wasn’t good enough, I think we know that, we started slow and didn’t have many options.
“Second half, we played really well, we came back to 1-1 and had all the chances, and then obviously it’s 2-1 and 3-1, and that ends the game.
“It’s a shame for us to go out in that way.”
Ferdinand critical of City defence
Rio Ferdinand lambasted City’s defending during the shock loss to Lyon in Lisbon.
The BT Sport pundit blamed Eric Garcia and Aymeric Laporte for Maxwel Cornet's opening goal for the French side in the encounter.
"I thought the defending was terrible," Ferdinand told BT Sport at half-time, as reported by the MEN.
"Yesterday we spoke about Bayern and Barcelona defending with high lines, it seems like they (City) wanted to try and match them to see if they could it any worse.
"Three passes and they're in on goal. You can see Laporte, in a three, he can see across the line, they're all man-for-man, you have to go with your runner.
"If you don't, you get punished. Also, communication as a centre-back is key. Your centre of the three is the one that should talking to Fernandinho to come in front.
"That would allow Garcia to drop off so he can see the runs, see the danger and sniff it out. He doesn't, no communication, the ball gets played in.
"It's a fantastic run, Garcia gets back and does fairly well but the finish is exquisite."
