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Guardiola defends Silva decision

Pep Guardiola has defended his decision to play Bernardo Silva at left-back.

The Portuguese midfielder was dropped into a deeper role and tasked with man-marking Bukayo Saka in Manchester City's win over Arsenal and was also utilised as a defender in the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest.

Silva was caught out for Forest's equaliser at the City Ground and it led to questions about why he was there in the first place.

Guardiola said: "The people say, 'Ah we concede a goal in the left side because Bernardo is playing there,' but the people don't realise that Bernardo helps us do what we have done against Nottingham Forest.

"Without Bernardo, it would not be possible to concede one counter-attack, one or two actions at the end.

"I'm not stupid to say that Bernardo's a full-back but he can do it because he's so intelligent, he's so clever.

"One against one he is a really good defender. With the ball he helps us to do the special way we want to play.

"That's why I play him in that position. It happened with Oleksandr Zinchenko in the past, we hit 100 points with Fabian Delph."

Varane's plea

Raphael Varane has said that Erik ten Hag has brought confidence to Manchester United and they can take the next step by beating Barcelona.

The 2018 World Cup winner joined the Red Devils in 2021 and has suffered a few tough years at Old Trafford.

But the arrival of Ten Hag has seen United elevate their game and the French defender believes that the squad can achieve big things under the Dutchman.

He said: "I think in the last month we grow a lot, we are playing with more confidence and tomorrow the atmosphere will be electric, so we have to manage our emotions and stay calm and believe.

"I think we improved a lot already as a team and the next step is to beat teams like Barcelona. It’s a great, great challenge for us and a great opportunity.

"I think tactically we are following exactly the rules and we know exactly how we want to play, how we want to manage the game.

"The quality is in the squad and I think with a little bit more experience and mentality of competition and winning mentality we already improved a lot."

O'Shea takes up assistant role for Republic of Ireland

The Irish FA have announced that John O'Shea will join the Republic of Ireland as an assistant coach to Stephen Kenny.

O'Shea, 41, won 118 caps for his country during his playing days and will leave behind a coaching role at Stoke to link up with the national team.

His domestic career included stints at Manchester United, Bournemouth, Sunderland and Reading before hanging up his boots in 2019.

On his appointment, O'Shea said: "I’m delighted to join the Ireland senior international team coaching staff and looking forward to working with Stephen and the rest of the backroom team when the campaign begins in March.

"It was always an honour to play for my country and put on the green shirt, so to join the coaching staff and work with the current group of players and staff is an amazing opportunity for me."

Haaland could be a thorn in Rose's side

RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose admits stopping Manchester City sensation Erling Haaland is a formidable task.

Rose previously coached the Norwegian at RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund and will come up against his former charge tonight.

He said: "If he sees the goal — he is crazy about scoring. He is always there for the team, working for the team.

"He has improved his game a lot, his technical side, his movement and things around. Now he is playing for one of the best teams in the world and he is a world-class player.

"But I have great confidence in my team. We want to compete against one of the best teams in the world, see and look for opportunities.

"We want to be brave and want to solve all the problems and tasks — Haaland is one of them. We want to do it as a team."

Gerrard claims Reds were schooled

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard believes his former side were outclassed by Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The Reds found themselves 2-0 up at Anfield but Los Blancos mounted a magnificent comeback to stun last year's finalists 5-2.

On Jurgen Klopp's men, Gerrard said: "It’s a reality check. Liverpool got off to the perfect start, exactly what you need in a European night, fast, get yourself in front, build on it, 2-0 up.

"But from that moment Real Madrid came back into it, scored quite quick, a fantastic goal, and from then Liverpool were dominated and outclassed for large periods.

"At any club, if you concede five goals there’s got to be an inquest into why and how. I’m sure Jurgen will do that in the coming days.

"Everybody will be raw after that. Liverpool don’t concede five goals at Anfield, it’s very rare and there will be some soul-searching.

"Sometimes in football you’ve got to put your hands up and say the best team won, you were outclassed, you were dominated. 

"They were better in most areas of the pitch. We’re witnessing absolute greatness in [Luka] Modric and [Karim] Benzema."