Pep Guardiola said he is still fuming with Kyle Walker over the red card that has ruled him out of three Champions League matches.
Manchester City were 2-1 down in the final ten minutes of the dead rubber of a group game in Leipzig when the right-back lashed out at RB Leipzig forward Andre Silva and was given his marching orders. The Blues belatedly decided to appeal the three-match ban handed down to him, arguing that similar incidents had only resulted in a two-match suspension, but UEFA upheld their original decision.
Guardiola was so unhappy with the 'stupid' tackle that he revealed ahead of their game with Sporting that he didn't agree with the decision to appeal. "He deserved the three-game ban," he said.
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"When a player does a stupid thing, he deserves to be banned for three games. I'm not so kind to Kyle in this kind of action. I'm still so angry with him. It's not necessary to discuss with him, he knows it.
"Kyle is so important for us, you saw the game he played against United? But in Leipzig when we had already qualified, 80 minutes in and he made this kind of action? He deserves the three games.
"The club appealed but I did not agree. They have to do it because in other similar cases it was just two games [but] he deserved it. Hopefully he learns for the future."
Walker leaves City in an even more difficult predicament for their return game with Sporting given that Joao Cancelo is also unavailable due to sickness. Guardiola was at a loss to explain how the gap could be filled as he spoke ahead of the game.
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