Pep Guardiola has admitted he has been forced into bold changes by Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea system.
Manchester City and the Blues are facing off in the Champions League final this evening in Porto, and ahead of the game, Guardiola shocked many by going with no holding midfielders.
Both Fernandinho and Rodri were absent from the starting XI in a move very few expected, and Guardiola has now revealed the change was a bid to tackle Tuchel's tricky system.
Guardiola recently spoke about how hard the German's tactics were to play against, and he has now made a bold move to try to combat them as he looks to secure City their first-ever Champions League title.
“We have the chance to win the game, we have to attack, we have to defend, but also attack," he told BT Sport. "We need everyone, in the second-half, I’m pretty sure it will be different than the beginning.
“They [Chelsea] play one system, five at the back, we need specific players in that area and we decided for him.”
The 'him' Guardiola refers to is Raheem Sterling, who started despite not playing a regular part from the start in recent weeks for City as they romped to the Premier League title.
Chelsea will be hoping the change does not cause them too many problems, having beaten City in the last two meetings.
The Blues pulled off a 1-0 win against Man City in an FA Cup semi-final before winning again in the Premier League, 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium as they pulled off a top four finish.
Despite those results, City are favourites for tonight's final with Guardiola winning 14 of the 15 finals he has managed in his career so far, suggesting these bold decisions have paid off for him in the past.
