Arteta Says Guardiola

By Joshua Walters

Mikel Arteta has refused to blame Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Olympique Lyon on the absence of manager, Pep Guardiola, and says the view suggesting otherwise is ‘hypothetical’.

The Man City number-two, however, believes Wednesday’s loss of the 2018/19 Champions League opening fixture, is a wake-up call they would respond to.

Pep Guardiola is on suspension and sat in the executive box as his assistant led the fancied Citizens to a fourth straight Champions League defeat in front of a quiet crowd at the Etihad Stadium.

Arteta believes his side started slowly and was punished for giving away too many balls in dangerous areas, something, he thinks, could have happened if Pep Guardiola was in charge.

 “You can't say what would have happened had Pep Guardiola around, it's completely hypothetical,” said Arteta at the post-match press conference.

“The only reality is that we lost the game. We started quite slowly, we lost too many duels and twice in the first half we gave the ball in dangerous areas and allowed Lyon to score both times.”

“The way we went out last season to Liverpool hurts. We have had a big wake -up call, a result we were not expecting, but it’s early in the group stage and it is not too late to respond.”

Arteta thinks they started the second half on a good note and was not complacent in their approach against the French club.

'I can’t really explain why we began slowly, but sometimes in a new competition, it takes a while to get on track. We were finding it hard to come up with the right passes. We couldn't build up any consistency and Lyon were able to take advantage.”

"I don't think it was anything to do with complacency or the lack of atmosphere in the stadium as an excuse. We were all aware of Lyon's strength and weaknesses and we were ready to make a fresh start in this competition.”