Pep Guardiola says Manchester City did all possible to advance against Real Madrid in the Champions League this week, and he rejects the notion that they were not good enough at the Etihad. City dominated the game against Real Madrid on Wednesday, but surrendered an early goal to Rodrygo and needed an hour to level as the Spanish giants fell deeper and deeper. As the game entered extra time, City’s players exhausted and Real’s resolve grew stronger, and the visitors emerged victorious in the penalty shootout.
Guardiola was philosophical following the game, and his approach did not change when previewing City’s FA Cup trip to Wembley Stadium to face Chelsea, even if the Blues’ dream of a treble has ended. “We don’t have any other options and don’t want to feel sorry for ourselves.” “In football, you lose games,” he maintained.
We did our best but were unable to win. What’s next? We don’t have time to reflect, therefore we do it in the summer to reflect on the entire season. Football is a game in which you compete to win, like we have done, but you also lose games. That’s what occurred.
You want to play 120 minutes like we did the last 80 minutes versus Madrid? Do you remember whose team we faced? Did you anticipate that they wouldn’t have the ball, generate chances, or have the opportunities to do so? And now that we’re sitting here, do you think we’re going to win another triple? And will there be another Treble next season? And we’re going to win the Premier League by twenty points? It is not true.
Guardiola said that his team gave their everything and ridiculed the notion that Real would have rolled over, as they did in last year’s semi-final, when City defeated them 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium. “The most unbelievable thing is that we competed as a team that we are until the end,” he said. “In other cases, they take the ball and say, ‘Ah, because they didn’t do it previous season, they can’t do it this season. They are a terrific team that is used to playing under pressure during major matches, and we performed admirably despite this.
We lost 4-3 on penalties. You need to accept it. We were good. Good enough? No. If we had done a little better, we would have won. We do not win; in our profession, who wins is correct, and who loses is incorrect. Do not do another analysis. What would have happened if? It does not count at that level. You need to win. We accomplished everything. We know it, they know it, and the entire world knows it. “But it wasn’t enough.”
Guardiola recalled close failures in the Champions League while coaching Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and challenged his team to simply perform better the next time they face an excellent team in the final stages. “They were superb in their box defence. Incredible solidarity. They defended their skill for an extremely long time. “Chapeau,” he added.
My team is unable to accomplish this. My squad has to defend a lot of minutes in the box, and we aren’t good enough to do it. They deserve plenty of credit. If we play again, how can we generate 60 shots and more opportunities to score? That is all they can do. Try to improve. But the players accomplished everything. It happened three days ago against Luton, before that against Madrid, and again against Crystal Palace. It is admirable where we came from. The team is always present. I’m quite proud. I’d love to be there.
