Ten-man Man City into Champions League last 16 after Copenhagen draw

Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City were "so tired" after his 10 men qualified for the Champions League last 16 with a 0-0 draw against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday. Guardiola's side had Rodri's goal controversially disallowed by VAR before Sergio Gomez was dismissed for a professional foul at the Parken Stadium. City forward Riyad Mahrez also missed a penalty prior to Gomez's premature first half exit.

With Erling Haaland rested on the bench ahead of City's trip to Liverpool on Sunday, the Premier League champions failed to score for the first time in 24 games in all competitions. City had to be satisfied with avoiding defeat after playing with 10 men for an hour. Guardiola's men got their reward just hours later when they advanced to the knockout stages with two games to spare thanks to Borussia Dortmund's 1-1 draw with against Sevilla in the other Group G fixture.

"To play one hour like that is tough. The players gave absolutely everything," Guardiola said. "It's a good point and we will take it.

I'm so satisfied. Tomorrow we will regenerate and then we have two days to prepare for Liverpool." It was notable that City lacked a cutting edge without Haaland, who has scored 20 goals in 12 competitive games since signing from Dortmund in the close-season. Haaland scored twice in just 45 minutes during last week's 5-0 drubbing of Copenhagen, but Guardiola might have expected his team to dominate the Danish minnows even without him.

Guardiola said he wanted to give Haaland a break because the striker showed signs of fatigue after Saturday's win against Southampton. "He finished the game against Southampton so, so tired and didn't recover well. Yesterday was not good, today a little better but not perfect so we decide not to