Pep Guardiola admits that his team of Manchester City was not good enough in the Champions League this season and says that the best team was won after the owners unloaded Real Madrid from the competition.
Kylian Mbappe scored a hat trick when Real in Bernabeu came 3-1 winner, and a total of 6: 3 to reach the round of 16.
Nico Gonzalez scored a goal for the injury time for City in one night when the Spanish Giants were recovered as a champions League candidate this season, but it was hardly more than consolation.
Full time | Our #Ucl Campaign ends.
⚪️ 3-1 🤎 #Mancity pic.twitter.com/wlcjmuaqfi
– Manchester City (@mancity) February 19, 2025
Since Erling Haaland on the bench, Guardiola’s side, on the other hand, no real threat to the future was missing and tried to contain the attacking front line of the host.
“In the 180 minutes we have a good half an hour or 35 minutes, but the rest we fought,” Guardiola told TNT Sports after the game.
“When I got down a goal (Bernabeu) and started with an injury from John (Stones) after the campaign for the first goal, it was a bit like what happened all the season.
“But it is more difficult with the quality you (real) have.”
“After admitting a goal in the first campaign, we did not defend ourselves well. It is increasingly difficult. We accept the best team won, congratulations Real Madrid and now focus on the Premier League.
When asked about the quality of Mbappe, the City boss added: “It’s not just him, you have a fantastic team. You deserve to go through. We didn’t deserve it. It is the first year in which we did not make good Champions League season. We accept it and fight for the next season to be here again.
“We are lucky enough to be here in this competition for many years. We were so satisfied to win it once. We have accepted that we are not close enough this season to be there. We will see what will happen in the future. “
Next for City is a visit to the leader of the Premier League Liverpool on Sunday.
