It was a red card and hopefully Kyle Walker will learn for the future, asserts Pep Guardiola
Guardiola comments on Walker's red card
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Pep Guardiola has revealed that the red card Kyle Walker received for his challenge on Leipzig striker Andre Silva was completely warranted and asserted that the Englishman needs to control his emotions in the future. The Englishman will miss the first leg of City's last-16 tie in February.
Manchester City travelled to Germany to face RB Leipzig in the final group game of the Champions League on Tuesday and endured a dismal evening as they were promptly beaten 2-1 by the German club. The reigning Premier League champions had topped the group despite the result and already sealed qualification into the last-16 in the previous round but were unable to prevent a loss in the game that was played behind closed doors due to Covid-19 regulations.
A new look Leipzig team who parted ways with manager Jesse Marsch on Friday started the fixture with intent and capitalized through Dominik Szoboszlai who scored in the 24th minute as he went past the keeper and slotted it home. Andre Silva doubled the German team’s lead as he lashed a shot home in the 71st minute. Riyad Mahrez was able to pull one back in what proved to be a consolation goal in the 76th minute.
Kyle Walker then lashed out against Silva as he caught him on the back of the ankles and was promptly shown a straight red card which means that the 31-year-old would be unavailable for City in the first leg of the round of 16. Guardiola acknowledged that it was definitely a red card and admitted that it wasn't necessary.
"It was a red card - definitely. I'm not coming here to say what happened in the dressing room. It's not necessary. He cannot play in the last 16 and Kyle Walker is so important for us. We must always be in control of our emotions, especially in this competition... Hopefully he will learn for the future," Guardiola told BT Sport.
