Pep Guardiola has justified his reasons for leaving out Vincent Kompany from the squad that faced Barcelona at The Camp Nou. City lost to The Catalans 4-0 in The UEFA Champions League.
Guardiola didn’t give a start to the City captain alongside Sergio Aguero despite the defender being fully fit. The Belgian defender did play in the Everton match but only for few minutes.
Defending his decision Guardiola said that the 30 year old told him that he was not fully fit. Kompany’s career has been plagued by injuries as the Belgian also missed the entire EURO 2016 due to an injury. Kompany suffered a setback when he again injured his groin during his comeback match against Swansea last month.
Guardiola said, “It was him, he went to the doctors and said ‘I am not available to play’. I am going to explain always what is the truth with players.
“I saw him when he is fit, he is a real central defender. I like him.Vincent was not perfectly fit. That is why we took a decision to pick Pablo Maffeo, We appreciate him a lot. Normally Vincent Kompany would be on the bench. But he was not fit.”
The Spaniard decided not to start Sergio Aguero and with started Kevin De Bruyne in a more advanced position. The gaffer explained his decision for not playing the striker from the start. “With respect to Sergio Aguero, I said after the game it was a tactical decision.
“I wanted one midfield player more in the middle with Kevin de Bruyne, he has the qualities to hold behind the line, behind the back four and make the movements behind the full-backs.” he finished off.
