Man City Players 'Growing Frustrated' With Pep Guardiola's Approach to Champions League Games

A section of the Manchester City dressing room is understood to be frustrated with manager Pep Guardiola's tactical approach to Champions League games, which is under the microscope after Saturday's shock defeat to Lyon.

City were lifeless and underwhelming during the surprise 3-1 loss, which saw them crash out of the Champions League in the quarter finals for the third consecutive season.

For the game, Guardiola had his side line up with a back five - a tactic which they have rarely used all season - with Eric García and Aymeric Laporte joined at centre-back by midfielder Fernandinho, and it backfired as City could not stop Lyon from snatching the victory.

As noted by The Athletic, some in the City dressing room were left perplexed at Guardiola's decision to try something new on such a big stage, with certain players growing frustrated at how this appears to have become a regular occurrence for Guardiola.

The Spaniard rarely shies away from altering his system, and to his credit, he does often get it right. He deployed a 4-4-2 against Real Madrid which saw Kevin De Bruyne play as a striker, and it worked to perfection as City completely overwhelmed Zinedine Zidane's Spanish champions.

However, his love of tinkering backfired against Lyon and left plenty of eyebrows raised after the game. Several City players were said to feel as though they often don't really know what they're doing because Guardiola chops and changes his system too much without any real need.

This isn't the first time that there has been an air of disharmony at the club. There are said to be some players who feel as though Guardiola hasn't actually helped improve them as players, with De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling instead only thriving because of their own motivation, while the Spaniard's way of dealing with player concerns is said to leave a little to be desired at times.

Importantly, the uncomfortable atmosphere did not leave the dressing room. No fingers were pointed at Guardiola, who is 'bulletproof' at City, and there are no ludicrous suggestions of a revolt or that Guardiola is nearing the exit door at the Etihad Stadium.

City are prepared to back Guardiola in the transfer market once more this summer. They have already splurged out on Nathan Aké and Ferran Torres, and Napoli centre back Kalidou Koulibaly is described as the next key target.

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