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Football London
Football London
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Rob Guest

What Pep Guardiola told his Man City team to do after Champions League exit against Tottenham

Wednesday, April 17, 2019 will also be a day to remember for Tottenham fans after securing a place in the Champions League semi-final against all the odds.

Travelling to the Etihad Stadium to face Man City with a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Mauricio Pochettino and his side were prepared for relentless pressure from the hosts as they looked to avenge their defeat in the quarter-finals 12 months earlier.

Goals always seemed a certainty in Manchester with a place in the last four up for grabs, but nobody could have predicted the frantic start as the sides were level at 2-2 with only 11 minutes on the clock.

Ten minutes later and Man City were level on aggregate through Raheem Sterling's second of the game, yet it was Spurs who still held the advantage due to their away goals.

Sergio Aguero then put City into the lead in the tie for the first time on 59 minutes, only for Fernando Llorente to swing the game back in Spurs' favour fourteen minutes later with VAR awarding a goal after it had appeared to go in off his arm.

However, that wasn't the end of the drama as Sterling found the net in stoppage time to break Tottenham hearts.

Wenger: Pochettino needs to show he can give more to Tottenham

With VAR denying City earlier in the game as Llorente made it 4-3 on the night, it would once again cause more pain for Pep Guardiola's team as the goal was chalked off for offside.

As Pochettino and his team triumphantly celebrated their incredible result in the changing room, it was rather quiet in Man City's as the Premier League champions rued another early exit in the competition.

Well, a new book called Pep's City: The Making of a Superteam, as reported by the Sun, actually reveals what Guardiola said to his players moments after their Champions League dream came crashing down to earth.

Fernando Llorente celebrates in front of the fans (BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

"I’m proud of you. I know you feel like s**t and you think it’s not fair," he said.

"Since when is football fair? I’m not being fair when I decide not to pick you.

"And I p*** you off when I put you on the bench, so when you go out on to the pitch, you show me that I’m wrong, right?

"Well, that’s exactly what we’re going to do now. Eat this f*****g s**t that we have to eat.

"Because we did everything to eliminate Spurs and they f*****g beat us, we’re out on our f*****g a*****.

"Now we just have to fight for everything we have left, stand up and fight for what we can still win.

"We can win two more trophies and lads, let’s go for them! I know you’re going to do it because you’re the best."

Man City did end up winning both the Premier League and FA Cup, with Spurs unfortunately losing 2-0 in the Champions League final against Liverpool at the start of June.

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