Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager, expressed his pride in his team's performance despite their painful exit from the Champions League. The dream of achieving a double-treble was shattered following a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to Real Madrid. This loss came on the same night that Arsenal also bowed out of the competition, losing 1-0 to Bayern Munich and suffering a 3-2 aggregate defeat.
Manchester City showcased resilience by coming from behind in their quarter-final second leg at Etihad Stadium. Kevin De Bruyne’s strike in the 76th minute neutralized Rodrygo’s early opener for Real Madrid. Despite dominating possession, City couldn't secure victory within regulation time and ultimately fell short during penalties.
Guardiola defended Silva’s penalty miss
The penalty shootout began with Julian Álvarez scoring for Manchester City while Luka Modric missed for Real Madrid - an event that seemed like an early turning point. However, subsequent misses by Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic put City back on shaky ground. All remaining kicks were successful with Antonio Rüdiger delivering the final blow for Real Madrid - securing victory for the 14-time champions.
Guardiola graciously congratulated Real Madrid post-match after Champions League quarter-final loss but maintained that his team should have secured victory before reaching penalties.
Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager, said:
“It is what is – sometimes you win on penalties and sometimes not. We should have done it before – for how we played,”
“I absolutely don’t have any regrets – we did everything offensively and defensively. Football is about scoring goals and they did it a little bit better than us from the penalty spot. They are in the semi-finals and we are not. I have to say from my heart, thank you to my players.”
Manchester City now need to regroup for FA Cup clash
Despite this setback, there is little time for Guardiola and his players to dwell on their Champions League exit as they prepare to face Chelsea in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final match-up.
The tone of Guardiola's comments suggests a manager proud of his team's efforts and ready to move forward. As sports fans and betting enthusiasts, we can look forward to more thrilling matches in the days ahead.
