‘Real Madrid deserved to win, we need to accept it ‘, says Guardiola after Champions League exit

Insight Online News

Madrid, Feb 20 : Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has admitted his side was not good enough in the Champions League following our exit against the holders Real Madrid and they meed to learn from this loss.

Manchester City were knocked out the UEFA Champions League after a 6-3 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid. After last week’s 3-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola‘s men went to the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg with an uphill task, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side attacked with pace and precision as Guardiola’s side was beaten 3-1 in the second leg with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick for the current European champions.

It was the fourth time that City faced Real in the past four seasons, with City going out on penalties last season and winning emphatically in the previous campaign when they lifted the trophy.

But Guardiola congratulated the 15-time winners on their win and said Real Madrid deserved to win and City need to learn from the loss. “The best team won, they deserved it. We made good Champions league campaigns in the past, (reaching the) semi-finals and finals, but this season no,” Guardiola was quoted by the Manchester City website.

“I had the feeling in the previous three [years] we were better than them, this time they have been better. They can run, can make long possessions, high pressing, dynamic movement, defend well. They deserve it. We need to learn from it. We need to accept it and move forward,” the City boss added.

City’s centre back Ruben Dias also admitted that City had to perform better on the night and has urged the team to accept the loss and seek improvement for the future.

“We were not good enough. Shake hands, and we look forward. We have a lot to improve, we have to be better. Football is like this,” Dias told City TV. “It’s the moment and you have to be good enough in the moment and if you’re not good enough in the moment then football takes over. It is what it is.”

“Obviously, in our minds, the disappointment is maybe heavier than usual because we don’t like to lose. We don’t like to be in this position. It’s not just that we’ve got used to winning every year; it’s just our mentality, it’s our way of being, it’s our air that we breathe.

“As such, it hurts more. We don’t take it lightly. The only way to improve and the only way to look forward is to accept what happened, and today we were not good enough,” he said.

City will be back in Premier League action on Sunday against leaders Liverpool at Etihad Stadium.