Riyad Mahrez will ‘take a break’ from penalty duty, according to Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, after failing to convert another spot-kick on Tuesday night.
In the 0-0 draw against Borussia Dortmund, Gregor Kobel stopped a shot from Mahrez after he had previously missed from 12 yards out in the Champions League match against Copenhagen.
The City winger is not the only one to have missed a penalty in the six years since Guardiola took over; Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus, and Raheem Sterling, the latter two of whom have since left the team, all missed penalties last season alone.
During the 2020–21 season, Sergio Aguero, Ilkay Gundogan, and Kevin De Bruyne all missed penalty kicks, bringing City’s overall record under Guardiola (not including shootouts) to 25 misses from 80 attempts.
Pep Guardiola decision on Man City’s penalty taker
Mahrez missed this week’s penalty after earning it for himself, costing City the match in Dortmund, but ultimately it didn’t matter because a point was still enough to win the group.
“I admire the courage and bravery of the guys who take the penalties,” Guardiola said afterwards.
“I don’t know how many million penalties we’ve missed. We’ve done it in this competition many times,” the City boss added.
“Riyad was exceptional two or three years ago, he shoots the penalty to go 1-1 here [in Dortmund] to help us reach the semi for the first time [in 2021]. Lately, he missed. He will reflect. He can take a break now with the penalties.
“He has the mentality to go there and do it. The teams are physically strong and we give advantage to them – it happened too many times. It’s many players.”