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Bielsa reacts to a shocking ‘first’ in his 568-game career on horror Leeds night

Marcelo Bielsa raising his hand during a Leeds game

Marcelo Bielsa had no real excuses after his Leeds suffered a 7-0 demolition at the hands of a rampant Manchester City on Tuesday evening.

An injury-hit Leeds side had no answer at all to table-topping City, who struck through Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, a brace from Kevin De Bruyne and further strikes from Riyad Mahrez, John Stones and Nathan Ake.

It was the first time in Bielsa’s long 568-match managerial career that he had conceded seven.

Leeds have now picked up 16 points in their 17 Premier League games this season. Adjusting to three points for a win, only in 1930-31 have they had fewer at this stage of a campaign.

When asked by BBC Match of the Day if he thought the game would be that difficult beforehand, Bielsa said: “No way. I didn’t think the differences would be the ones we saw.

“They didn’t surprise me. What I’m saying is that we didn’t do anything well. Didn’t defend well, we didn’t manage the ball, there is nothing to take away from the game.

Bielsa feared what was coming

“When a team, the individual and collective have nothing worth valuing it is not the problem of the individuals but the conduction.

“Coming into this game we knew what we had to prevent the opponent from doing. Nothing unexpected happened, nothing surprising.

“We came to do what we expected and we weren’t able to do it.

“This is clearly a problem with the conduction.”

Players ratings: Man City star puts on masterclass in seven-goal rout; only two Leeds stars show up in horrorshow