Pep Guardiola explains why he shouted at De Bruyne to “pass the ball”

Pep Guardiola has revealed why he shouted at Kevin de Bruyne to “pass the ball” during the 4-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday.

The result sent Manchester City to their second Champions League final in two years but it wasn’t all smiles during the game.

After half-time, Guardiola shouted at De Bruyne to “pass the ball”. The Spaniard kept shouting the exact words in an attacking sequence when the Belgian had the ball.

The 31-year-old lost the ball and reacted angrily by shouting “Shut up, shut up” to his coach.

Guardiola furiously walked back into his seat. After the game, the former Bayern Munich coach explained why he was hard on De Bruyne.

“In the second half, we were very hasty. As soon as Gündogan went out, he lost a ball, Kevin made three transitions that weren’t necessary and we accelerated a lot when we had to do the opposite, to put them down and turn them around a lot. That’s why we weren’t so good,” he told Movistar+.

De Bruyne and Guardiola hugged after the former was subbed off with minutes remaining in the game.

Man City beat Real Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the Champions League and will face Inter Milan in the final.