MANCHESTER CITY boss Pep Guardiola has revealed that three of his top stars asked to be SUBSTITUTED against Real Madrid.
The Cityzens saw their quest for a second consecutive Champions League trophy come to an end after penalty heartbreak at the hands of Los Blancos.
After an enthralling 4-4 aggregate scoreline across the two legs it came down to spot kicks to decide who would face Bayern Munich in this year's semi-final.
Unfortunately for City they were unable to win the penalty lottery and they saw their European journey come to an end despite their best efforts.
Their chances of getting the better of the opponents from 12 yards had already taken a hit before the game even went to penalties, as three stars had been subbed off.
Manuel Akanji, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were all substituted before the shootout and Guardiola has revealed they ASKED to be taken off.
Speaking in his post-match press conference the tactician explained: "Erling [Haaland] and Kevin [De Bruyne] and Manu [Akanji] asked me to go out. They could not continue."
Fans were fuming when they initially saw that some of City's best players were being hooked with time still on the clock and many were particularly irate about Haaland being subbed off with the striker missing the entirety of extra-time.
On X, one fan wrote: "Poor penalty shootout but the biggest point for me is Pep taking Haaland off when penalties were a likely event."
While a second added: "Why did he take KDB and Haaland off?! FFS."
Another fan wrote: "I blame Pep's useless tinkering. Who makes such substitutions?"
Guardiola's post-match comments go a long way to explaining what felt like an unusual decision with all three stars feeling as though they couldn't carry on.
And the 53-year-old will also be keen to try and keep as many fresh legs as he possibly can with an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea now just THREE DAYS away.
City take on The Blues on Saturday afternoon as they look to book their spot in the FA Cup final for the second consecutive season.
But even after that they will then have to shift their focus to a midweek clash against Brighton as a hectic schedule awaits the treble winners with seven games in the next four weeks.