Newcastle were beaten 5-1 on aggregate and at the end of the game Pep Guardiola made a beeline for Sandro Tonali
Sandro Tonali of Newcastle United applauds the fans
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Pep Guardiola has lifted the lid on his conversation with Sandro Tonali at the end of Newcastle United's semi-final defeat at Manchester City.
Tonali has experienced a roller-coaster few days on Tyneside after being linked with Arsenal following leaks from a third party. Both the player's agent Giuseppe Riso and Arsenal sources have denied any approaches and Newcastle also played down there had been contact.
Guardiola took time to seek out the Newcastle midfielder at the end of a game which saw the Magpies relinquish their hold on the Carabao Cup after a 3-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium resulted in a 5-1 aggregate defeat.
Asked what was said to the Italy international at the full-time, Guardiola said in his Press conference: "What did I say (to Sandro Tonali?) My Italian is perfect, so that's why I can communicate with him. And we have an incredible friend in common from Brescia, Edoardo Piovani.
"And every time we are connected, I know his father some time ago, and all the time we met, we talked about his experience in Milan, the supporters, and how happy he is in Newcastle. He's a really, really top player, top, top, top player!"
Tonali played the full 90 minutes as Newcastle's midfield continued to struggle to cope without captain Bruno Guimaraes and fellow Brazilian Joelinton. Lewis Miley is also out injured.
Despite a humbling first period, the Magpies still had opportunities to score against City, and eventually grabbed a consolation after the break through Anthony Elanga, who could have scored a couple more times.
Guardiola was also quizzed on the amount of chances afforded to Newcastle, the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said: "Yeah. We have to fix it."
Reflecting on the game itself, Guardiola said: **"**With Newcastle you can never control them completely. They had a one against one with James [Trafford] - James was unbelievable especially in the first half.
"I know the rhythm the players have and we saw it. Newcastle are a Champions League team with top-class players. It was an incredibly intense game in all departments but the guys were really good."
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