Pep Guardiola, the head coach of Manchester City, praised his player Savinho, describing him as the spark that ignited Manchester City's comeback in the second half during their 3-1 victory over Belgian side Club Brugge on Wednesday, ensuring their progression in the UEFA Champions League.
Manchester City finished the first half trailing by a goal, before Mateo Kovacic equalized, and then Club Brugge's defender, Joel Ordóñez, scored an own goal.
Savinho, who came on as a substitute for Ilkay Gündogan at the start of the second half, further extended Manchester City's lead by scoring the third goal.
Guardiola commented after the match, as quoted by the club's official website: "We were out of the competition, and in those moments, you play with nothing to lose."
He added: "The first half was very dynamic, but we lacked that spark, and Savinho has been incredible for us this season when he plays. He changed the course of the match, and after five or ten minutes, he won two or three corner kicks. The crowd reacted, and we had chances."
Guardiola continued: "In the way we played, Brugge had more chances in the second half compared to the first. In the first half, when they were very organized and defended man-to-man, we needed quality and that spark, a player who could make individual runs to score, and we missed that."
He added: "Maybe we felt the pressure. Sometimes when you're leading by two goals, you fear losing, and when you're trailing 1-0, just on the brink of being eliminated from the Champions League, you have nothing to lose."
Guardiola went on: "At the right moments, we found the goals. The group stage was really difficult because the game against Inter was really good."
He said: "It wasn’t easy to beat Juventus or Paris Saint-Germain, and in two weeks, we’ll be better than we are now because the players will return, we’ll make new signings, and we’ll play against one of the giants, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid, and we’ll see what happens and how we progress."
When asked about his thoughts on changes to the format of the competition, Guardiola anticipated that other teams would also find it difficult to qualify.
He said: "I like it, and we’ve suffered a lot, but in the last match, many important teams could have been eliminated, and that was nice. We play more games in November and December, and when we're not ready, we suffer."
Guardiola concluded: "We were 45 minutes away from elimination, and it was an incredible lesson for all clubs and for me. Nothing is guaranteed, and the competition is extremely tough."