Pep Guardiola left a statement that set off alarm bells after Manchester City‘s heavy defeat to Real Madrid in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. The Catalan coach admitted that mounting a comeback against the La Liga giants seems almost impossible.
Has Guardiola thrown in the towel?
“Options to turn it around? Not many. We’ll try, but the chances are slim,” Guardiola admitted in the post-match press conference, making it clear the enormous challenge his team faces in the return leg at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite the convincing 3-0 scoreline at the Santiago Bernabéu, the Manchester City manager defended his players’ performance and insisted the result in the Champions League knockout stage was overly harsh.
“I have the feeling we played well. We got into the final third many times and our passing worked, but we lacked that final detail. We didn’t defend the first goal properly,” he explained.
Pep Guardiola stressed that his Premier League champions created enough danger to have scored, but failed in the decisive moments.
“I don’t think our performance was so bad as to deserve going in 3-0 down. We reached the six-yard box many times, but we couldn’t find the finishing touch. That was the detail we were missing,” he added.
That said, the coach also acknowledged Real Madrid‘s merit, as the Champions League giants once again showed their effectiveness on big European nights.
“Madrid deserved it. They’re a team with a lot of quality and they cut off many of our transitions. In the second half we played better and had chances,” he noted.
Now Manchester City needs a historic comeback in the Champions League to stay alive in the European competition-a mission that even Pep Guardiola admits will be extremely difficult when they face Real Madrid again at the Etihad Stadium.
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