Claudio Bravo Will Not Be Dropped Despite Mistake -Pep Guardiola

Bravo will have to take a hefty chunk of the blame for the result as City had been in the contest until his sending off left them in the lurch. His attempt to control and pass the ball outside the box led to a hash of a pass which fell to Luiz Suarez whose shot was blocked by Bravo outside the box.

Bravo was signed in the summer for his ball playing skills with former City number 1, Joe Hart shipped off to Torino on loan. Bravo has been suspect since his move to City, making a series of errors and Wednesday night was his biggest mistake yet.


Despite his mistakes, Manchester City head coach, Pep Guardiola has insisted he will not drop Bravo.

“I’m sorry but until the last day of my career as a coach I will try to play from our goalkeeper,” Guardiola said. “There are moments you have to kick the ball out and against Everton on Saturday we played four or five times the long ball. But he tried to play it and sometimes this happens.

“There will be no change [of goalkeeper]. It stays the same. Football is a game of mistakes. He knows what he did. He has a lot of experience and he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the last 10 years. I don’t have doubts about him. He’s disappointed but he will learn from that.”

“It’s difficult enough to play Barcelona with 11 men,” Guardiola said. “With 10 the game was over. Until then the game was open. Up to that point there aren’t many regrets. We’d created enough chances and arrived at the byline many times. We played with huge personality and we did create two or three clear chances. We are a new club, getting to know each other in a process. My perception is that we did well, knowing where we’ve come from and who we are. We’ve been brave. We started really well in the second half and then to play 10 versus 11 and to go 2-0 down– it’s so complicated. When Messi, Neymar and Suárez attack you, it’s very complicated. They punish you.”