Pep Guardiola admits that his side in Manchester City this season was not good enough in the Champions League and says that they “won the best team” after being kicked out of the competition by Real Madrid.
Kylian Mbappe was scored by a hat-trick because Real ran 3-1 winners in Bernabeu and 6-3 on the aggregate, to reach the 16th round.
Nico Gonzalez achieved the goal of the City injury, but that was little more than comfort at night when the Spanish giants reaffirmed their credentials as candidates for the Champions League champions.
Full time | Our #Ucl The campaign is nearing its end.
⚪️ 3-1 🤎 #Mancity pic.twitter.com/wlcjmuaqfi
– Manchester City (@Mancity) 19. February 2025
With Erling Haaland on the bench, Guardiola, on the other hand, lacked any real threat and struggled to restrain the host’s attacking line.
“We have a good half hour or 35 minutes over 180 minutes, but we fought the rest,” Guardiola told TNT Sports after the game.
“Coming here [the Bernabeu] naked down and start with John’s injury [Stones] After the first goal action, it was a bit like what happened all season.
“But it’s harder with quality [Real] have.”
“After receiving the goal in the first action, we didn’t defend ourselves well. It’s getting harder. We accept it, the best team wins, I congratulate 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, they have a fantastic team. They deserved to pass. We didn’t deserve. This is the first year where we did not make a good Champions League season. We accept it and fight that next season Let’s be here again.
“We are happy to have been here for many years in this competition. We were so pleased to have won it once. We have accepted this right now, this season, we are not close enough to be there. We’ll see what’s going on in the future. “
The next city is a visit to the Premier League leader Liverpool on Sunday.
