Wednesday 10 April 2019 08:36, UK
Pep Guardiola said Manchester City's 1-0 loss to Tottenham could prove better than a 0-0 draw in their Champions League quarter-final first leg, as his side "know what they have to do" to progress.
Heung-Min Son's second-half goal swung the balance of the tie in Tottenham's favour in north London, leaving the Premier League champions without an away goal going into the return leg next Wednesday.
But Guardiola said: "It leaves us in this situation in the second leg, but sometimes 1-0 can be better than 0-0 because you know exactly what you have to do.
"At 0-0, you think about whether to go attacking or defend, but we know we have to score goals. We'll be analysing the result, but right now I feel good about how we played - we controlled the game and maybe next week it will work."
Guardiola's side managed only one shot on target aside from a 13th-minute penalty saved by Hugo Lloris, but the City boss, looking for his third Champions League title as a manager, said they had still been the better side.
He said: "There were so few chances that they conceded, some set-pieces, some counter attacks but we controlled the game, we played quite good. We'll see in the next game how we change to try it with our players, fans and families at home.
"If we don't play well I will say it but I don't have that feeling. Most of the time, both halves, we were the team with the good build-up, pressing a lot, they couldn't do that.
"We found our players in those positions, but in the final third especially in the second half we got into the box but they only got in once - with the quality they have - and they scored from it."
