In Full: Pep Guardiola’s sensational SEVEN MINUTE, 1,133 word answer to straight-forward question

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola sensationally spent seven minutes of his press conference on Friday answering a relatively straight-forward question.

The Catalan coach has come under fire in recent days after Manchester City were held to a second-consecutive 1-1 draw, this time in their Champions League last-16 first-leg tie against RB Leipzig in Germany.

City’s inability to either convert any chances created, or find their star frontman throughout the 90 minutes was a focal point of some criticism, and some questioned whether there was simply too much emphasis on control from the squad.

The alternative of course would have been to take more risk in forward passes – an element to Kevin De Bruyne’s game that makes him so unique in the sport, especially when such risks pay off with the greatest rewards.

But when questioned on whether he felt his Manchester City side did not take enough risks against RB Leipzig, Pep Guardiola provided a truly sensational response, as he spent seven minutes and over 1,100 words covering a variety of topics.

As such, here is the full Pep Guardiola transcript – from that sole question – from Friday afternoon’s press conference ahead of the weekend’s trip to Bournemouth:

“How many goals have we scored in the Premier League? We are the best, in goal difference or whatever. We scored a lot of goals. I never said that we don’t take a risk. In the final third, I don’t want to take a risk in the process, in three passes, to make it. I don’t want it in that game, the first-leg (of the Champions League last-16 against RB Leipzig).

“Oh, I’d love to win 0-4. At half-time, we could’ve been 0-3 ahead. We had to score; the chance for Rodri on set-pieces, the shot from Jack (Grealish) inside the 18-yard box which led to nothing – we had one shot on target. Before they had their first chance, we had a clear, clear chance.

“Last season, at this stage of the Champions League, we won 0-5 in Lisbon. 0-5. Do you know what I heard? ‘How bad is Sporting Lisboa! What a poor team! They can’t compete with City, Sporting Lisboa.’ They won the Portuguese league! From my point of view, their manager (Ruben Amorim) is one of the best at the moment.

“His team is really, really, really good. But… pft, Sporting Lisboa. Do you know what happened there? Five shots on target, five chances, five goals. 100%. How good is the manager? This season, we had these chances. Before the first chance they had, you’re at 0-1 and you have a clear chance to make 0-2 or 0-3. Now, 1-1 in Leipzig, how much of a disaster is Manchester City? Ah, Leipzig is bad. It’s not a good team.

“How many top teams are out in the Champions League (already)? Everyone has to understand that the opponents also play! And I saw the game in Leipzig and I say I had the same feeling that I had before: They are a good team! A really good team! Why? Because they buy young players, they buy players from big data that said how many runs you make, how intense, and how many times you do it. If these players do that, they take it. If they don’t, because they find these types of players that are able to do 40/50 metres (sprinting), high-intensity a thousand million times.

“We don’t have those players. Bernardo can do 40 metres? No. Gundogan? No. Just Erling (Haaland), just Kyle (Walker), when Kevin (De Bruyne) plays, a little bit Jack (Grealish) – but the rest? We cannot. In that period of the first-leg, I didn’t want that. That’s why we played in that way, and do that. But even with that, we could’ve scored more than one goal. In the second-half, they were better – for the reasons that we didn’t press properly, and our build-up was not as courageous, because it’s the first-leg.

“What happened against Tottenham Hotspur, what happened against Aston Villa… and the players are humans. ‘Oh, Champions League? I don’t want to make these type of mistakes because we’re punished in one action, and I’m insecure’. It’s normal! We played (long) to Erling (Haaland) and we didn’t win the ball. Other teams press and they lose the ball. This team, they don’t lose the ball. Why? Because it’s the Champions League. Why? Because they are good!

“Why do you not think about the opponents always having qualities, good managers, well-prepared, and do good tactics, young players, old players, they have desire… Oh Leipzig, they don’t have the desire to go through. It’s just Manchester City who want to be in the quarter-finals? Leipzig are not allowed to dream, they’re not allowed to reach the quarter-finals, they’re not allowed to do the next steps?

“But every time when I see some adjectives you put on the performance of the team or the players, from former players, Oh my god! It’s so *blurgh*… it’s not nice! ‘Disgrace’, words like that, how do you say that?! The opponents, also they are doing this.

“Barcelona yesterday played a fantastic first-half (against Manchester United), and the second-half was better than United. Can we think about United being good in the second-half, not because Barcelona was bad, and the first-half Barcelona was good, not because Man United was bad. Ah the media in Spain, I will share that I didn’t read it, but they will say bad, and the media here will perfect for the other ones… for one goal difference, for one detail, for one team out than the other one.

“Like I said before, tomorrow will be a difficult game, and at the end of the season, every game will be difficult. I have that feeling. The teams improve a lot. Look at the teams at the bottom; Southampton is able to go to Stamford Bridge and win, Bournemouth go to Wolves and win when Wolves was able to win with 10-men in the last game they played. That’s the reality of football. What do you expect? Because last season we win a lot of games away, every season is going to be the same?

“For that situation, Liverpool and United should win all the years the Premier League, because what happened in the 80s and 90s, all the time it was Liverpool and United. Since Roman Abramovich came to Chelsea, and Arsenal when Arsene (Wenger) arrived, and after Arsenal we are involved there. It’s just a change. Sometimes when you play 20 bad minutes, or 25 bad minutes – ah, we cannot play 20 bad minutes? We cannot be overcome or the opponents are better than us for 20/25 minutes in a Champions League, away?

“I said at half-time to the players, ‘The most important thing I’m going to tell you for the second-half is now. The second-half will be completely different to the first-half. Completely. Completely. It’s not going to happen. Put a reset, zero here (in the mind), and start again. They will make a step forward, because it’s normal.’ I’ve lived this situation many times. And you have to learn from what happened, don’t be stressed. It’s going to happen.

“I said, ‘They’re going to fight, for 10 minutes, five minutes, you have to run! You have to be able to run 90 minutes! And suffer for 90 minutes’. Maybe it will happen, maybe for 90 minutes the other team is much better than you. We made an incredible high-press in the first-half, but two or three teams they break that high-press. Do you know why? Because they are good. Not because you were wrong, the movements we thought, the way they shape.

“Against Arsenal, playing (Gabriel) Martinelli and (Bukayo) Saka there (wide). Against Leipzig, no one played there. So our pressing is completely different, and they did it really well. But they have the ability to dribble, to keep the ball, to control, to set, to switch the play. You have to defend deep!”

And, breathe! In typical Pep Guardiola fashion, the Manchester City boss took a moment before exclaiming, “What the… what an explanation, huh?”

When pressed further on the initial question, Guardiola then interrupted as he said, “No, you don’t have to ask me again after this!”

You can watch the full embargoed section of Pep Guardiola’s pre-Bournemouth press conference below: