Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola admits he doesn’t understand handball rule after Rodri goal chalked off by VAR

Rodri’s stunning first-half strike was disallowed following a VAR review after City winger Riyad Mahrez accidentally touched the ball with his hand during the build-up.

The decision drew criticism from the BT Sport pundits after the match.

“He’s got it [his arm] by his side and it brushes,” said former England striker Peter Crouch.

“It’s just ridiculous and it’s taken away such a fantastic goal.”

“We have been robbed of a great Champions League goal,” added former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves.

Guardiola was asked after the game if he understood the handball rule, to which he replied: “No”.

The City boss also referenced decisions in Inter Milan’s 1-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League last week and Liverpool’s 3-2 loss to Arsenal in the Premier League at the weekend.

“Inter Milan versus Barcelona last week, did you see what happened with Arsenal and Liverpool? So, no [I don’t understand it],” he said.

It proved a frustrating night for City, who also had Sergio Gomez sent off, while Mahrez missed a penalty.

Guardiola insists he didn’t see the incident that saw Gomez sent off for pulling back Hakon Arnar Haraldsson in the 30th minute, but was pleased with the performance of his side after going a man down.

“I’m really satisfied. The team gave everything, 10 v 11, to play one like that is tough,” he said.

“We conceded few chances. We started very well. Mathematically we are not in the next round, we are not there, but almost there. We’ll try to get a result.

“The width of the pitch is difficult to control. We made a lot of possession and then in the last 10 minutes with Phil [Foden] coming in then I felt maybe we could break it. The players gave absolutely everything. It’s a good point and we will take it.”

Meanwhile, Guardiola has explained the decision to rest striker Erling Haaland, who has scored 20 goals in 13 appearances this term, and give Julian Alvarez the nod in attack.

“He [Haaland] finished the game against Southampton so, so tired and he didn’t recover well these two, three days,” he said.

“Yesterday was not good, today was a little bit better but not perfect and we decided not to take the risk.”