Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola refused to seek excuses for their FA Cup semifinal defeat to Liverpool.
City suffered a 3-2 loss at Wembley Stadium, after Liverpool's three-goal half-time lead proved too big a deficit for the Premier League leaders to overturn, despite Jack Grealish's effort and Bernardo Silva's late strike which set up a frantic finale.
“I have a lot of confidence in my players and the selection, I trust a lot of them," he said at his post-match press conference.
“We had it terrible in terms of fixtures and travel and a lot of important games. That's why we needed fresh legs.
“We started really well, especially with Jack and Joao and after conceded a goal from a set-piece. Liverpool are so strong and score many goals with these balls.
“The second was an accident which was tough. It's tough to concede a goal in the last minute of the first half but the second half they showed incredible pride.
“When you talk about being tired, second half we didn't look it, that means football is not about that, it's about momentum.
“First half we were too passive and the second half we had the momentum. We had the most clear chances except at the end of course when everything was there on the counter attack.
“It's tough to be here to try to compete, but the guys in the first half, against the opponent we play it's always difficult to do it.
“We reacted marvellously, [with] the way we played and how we fought for every single ball. These games must be played in this way and at the end we were close to coming back."
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