Guardiola Reflects On Man City Youngsters' Valuable Learning Experience

LONDON: Pep Guardiola has assessed the performances of Champions League debutants CJ Egan-Riley and James McAtee following Manchester City's goalless draw with Sporting.

City sailed through to the Champions League quarterfinals after they played out a 0-0 draw against Sporting in their last-16 second leg on Wednesday, progressing 5-0 on aggregate. City had already done the hard work in their thrashing of the Portuguese side in the first leg three weeks ago in Lisbon.

City join the likes of Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, with the remaining Last 16 fixtures decided next week.

Egan-Riley, City's Elite Development Squad captain, started under the Etihad lights while Premier League 2's leading scorer McAtee was introduced as a half-time substitute against the Portuguese champions.

Luke Mbete also entered the fray late on for his senior Champions League bow and although City were frustrated by the visitors, a comprehensive 5-0 first leg victory had already all but guaranteed our progression to the quarter-finals.

And Guardiola was proud of the young trio's performances, believing their exposure to Europe's elite competition will prove invaluable as they continue to develop.

Focusing on Egan-Riley and McAtee in particular, the City boss reflected, "CJ doesn't make mistakes which is so important as a defender (and) McAtee played well.Macca is quite calm and a guy who is in a good direction. He got minutes in the second half and has played previous games. IANS

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