Overthinking syndrome plagues Guardiola … he wins big meetings

and take Manchester City A 3-0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, last Wednesday, in a match that saw an incident that the fans described as “Guardiola’s false wisdom.”

The former Spanish coach decided to change the formation of the team, bringing three players into the game, and relying on one defensive player, a strategy he had not used before this season.

These decisions made it easy for Real Madrid to pass through the middle of the “exposed” and cause confusion again Manchester City playersespecially Ghana’s Antoine Simenho, who has never played as a striker, and Brazil’s Savinho, who Guardiola has little confidence in this season.

A state of “overthinking” he did Guardiola Before the game, this is the scenario that is repeated before Manchester City’s big matches in the Champions League, and many see it as the main reason for the failure. Manchester City European, although the team is better than the opposing teams.

Here we recall the famous cases of Guardiola’s “overthinking” and incomprehensible changes, in the last game of the Champions League:

Lyon 2020 Games

In the 2020 Champions League quarter-final against Lyon, Guardiola changed Manchester City’s formation (4-3-3) to a system that relies on three defenders with different technical positions for midfielders.

Analysts believed that this sudden change disturbed the team, especially since City showed the same level of strength as usual, so the game ended with the English team losing 3-1 and being eliminated from the competition against “humble” Lyon.

Tottenham match 2019

The Spanish coach was also criticized after the fight English Tottenham In the final stages of the 2019 Champions League, he was accused of taking precautions in the first legs, including preventing some famous players from leaving the starting line-up at the start of the game.

City lost the first leg 1–0, before going out of the competition despite winning 4–3 in the second leg, due to the away goals rule at the time.

Chelsea 2021 final

In the 2021 Champions League final against… ChelseaThe most controversial decision was when Manchester City went into the match without a defensive player, with Rodri and Fernandinho removed from the starting line-up.

Analysts noted that the absence of a defensive midfielder left opportunities that Chelsea exploited, deciding the game with an unanswered goal and winning the title.

Time for Bayern Munich

And while driving Bayern Munich Between 2014 and 2016, the German team was eliminated from the semi-finals of the Champions League three times in a row, amid criticism of major changes in the decisive matches, including changing the game or changing the roles of players significantly against teams such as Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Coaches and other experts believe that Guardiola’s tendency to bring fresh ideas to big matches is intended to surprise the opponent, but sometimes it has negative results. Italian coach Fabio Capello has previously said that trying to “make something” in big games could be one of the reasons why some of Guardiola’s teams fail in Europe.