Pep Guardiola explains why Kevin De Bruyne was benched for the defeat of Man City in Tottenham

Pep Guardiola explained why he had ruled Kevin De Bruyne out of the squad while Manchester City lost 1-0 to Tottenham in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

City was beaten with a goal from Son Heung-Min in the second half after Sergio Aguero saw a penalty early missed by Hugo Lloris, the Spurs goalkeeper.

Guardiola's starting lineup was rather surprising, with Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan in the middle, with Riyad Mahrez, David Silva and Raheem Sterling in front of them.

The Spaniard said there was no injury or fitness at De Bruyne's home, it was a tactical decision to abandon him.

"I decide to play with two midfielders," said Guardiola after the defeat of his team. "[Fitness] This is not the problem. I know it's difficult for him.

"We have the second step, we talked about it. We have 180 minutes, we played to score but we could not. It sounds complicated but we will try. & # 39;

Tottenham now holds the advantage in the return leg to Manchester next Wednesday, although his victory was tainted by an injury to Harry Kane.

The English captain was forced to run away in the second half due to an ankle injury after challenging Fabian Delph on the sideline.

Kane has had problems with ankle injuries over the past three seasons and it seems that this is another example of the same problem, according to his director, Mauricio Pochettino, who said: "This has not been the case. look good. "

"We must check in the coming days," said Spurs boss. "It's so painful, but what can we do now?" It is impossible [to change anything] we must look forward and hope that it is not a big problem.

"We hope it will recover as soon as possible, but that does not look good."

FOLLOW: Michael Owen's predictions in the Europa League for Arsenal v Napoli and Slavia Prague v Chelsea

FOLLOW UP: Gary Neville names four Manchester United players not to be missed if they leave this summer