Tony Cascarino blames ‘tactically poor’ Pep Guardiola and suggests Man City boss could LEAVE as Champions League woes continue

Another season, another exit from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage for Manchester City. This latest one will have manager Pep Guardiola and the players particularly angry though.

They were beaten 3-1 by Lyon - a tie they were expected to win comfortably.

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Maxwel Cornet gave the French outfit a shock lead before Kevin De Bruyne's well-taken strike levelled the scores.

Manchester United target Moussa Dembele restored Lyon's lead before Raheem Sterling somehow missed an open goal from six yards out.

The defeat was rounded off when Dembele got another as he took advantage of some bad goalkeeping by Ederson to score on the rebound.

City didn't get the rub of the green on Saturday night, however, Guardiola has been criticised for the way the team was set up.

He opted for a 3-5-2 system, mirroring Lyon, while David Silva, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden were benched. The latter two didn't feature at all in the tie.

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And talkSPORT's Tony Cascarino slammed the City boss for his 'tactically poor' decision-making.

He told Weekend Sports Breakfast: "Pep only plays his way, normally. I say that because the Champions League performances have been tactically very different.

"I'm watching a team last night cross the ball numerous times during the game. When they cross the ball on the floor they're very dangerous.

"Sterling's had loads of tap-ins - I know he missed the one last night - but he's had loads of tap-ins at the far post. When they do that, they're brilliant.

"When they're crossing the ball and no one can head the ball, why? I came away thinking there were so many things that were wrong last night.

"It wasn't like Barcelona against Bayern Munich but it was tactically poor from a coach renowned to be one of the best but he's only going to play his way. His biggest crime is he didn't play the way Pep has done in the Premier League."

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The defeat caps off a bad season by City's very high standards with the Carabao Cup their only piece of silverware in 2019/20.

They've never won the Champions League, while Guardiola hasn't won it since 2011.

And Cascarino believes that City's dire exit from Europe's premier club competition could even lead to Guardiola leaving his post.

He added: "If that question was put to him about their record in the Champions League and he got the feeling that they weren't happy, I think Pep would walk. I think he's well capable of doing that."