Pep Guardiola charged and faces touchline ban over ref row
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiolas testing week gained another setback after European governing body Uefa charged him with improper conduct during their Champions League defeat to Liverpool.
Guardiola was sent to the stands at half-time of Citys 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, which sealed a 5-1 aggregate loss, for complaining about a disallowed goal.
He criticised referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz after the match, labelling him “special” and “different”, but insisted he had not deserved a red card because he had not insulted the Spanish official.
Read more: Liverpool rally to foil Man City comeback and reach last four
Uefa nevertheless opened disciplinary proceedings against Guardiola on Wednesday, raising the possibility of a two-match touchline ban for the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach.
Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren, meanwhile, believes they can rival City for domestic honours next season following their elimination of the runaway Premier League leaders.
The Reds ended Citys hopes of adding European silverware to their all but certain English top-flight title and have now won three successive fixtures between the sides this term.
“The regret is definitely the first six or seven games of the season in the Premier League. We had many draws and they took us out of the first place,” said Lovren.
“We didnt have any luck with injuries and City didnt have injuries all season. We didnt catch up well from the beginning. Im definitely confident that next season we can push everyone, even ourselves, to do better from the beginning to the end.”
Lovren admits that he hopes to avoid back-to-back Champions League winners Real Madrid in Fridays semi-final draw but insists Liverpool, too, should now be feared by Europes elite.
“I dont want Real Madrid. They have a lot of experience in the Champions League, a lot of records and over the past three seasons it is always them,” he added.
“But whoever we get will find it difficult to come to Anfield and score some goals. When you concede one goal and score five against Manchester City I think we should respect Liverpool more.”
The Croatia centre-back also revealed his attempts to rally team-mates during half-time against City, who had scored early to lead 1-0 at the interval and raise hopes of a famous second-leg comeback.
“I was shouting a bit at half-time. I told the lads to wake up because it was not good enough and I said we were sitting too deep,” he said.
“It was all positive, there was nothing negative, but I needed to remind the guys that we had 50 minutes to be in the semi-finals of the Champions League and we needed to give more.”
Liverpools win saw them reach the competitions semi-finals for the first time since 2008, when they lost to eventual runners-up Chelsea.
Read more: Is Pep Guardiola's domestic dominance hurting his Champions League chances?
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