Pep Guardiola has admitted that his decision to leave Kevin De Bruyne on the bench throughout Manchester City's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid on Wednesday night was not a result of an injury.
De Bruyne was an unused sub at the Bernabeu, where a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick fired Madrid to a 6-3 victory on aggregate and dumped City out of the Champions League.
The Belgian midfielder had played 84 minutes in the first leg but Guardiola felt he had better options for the return match.