Pep Guardiola bemoans missed chances as Manchester City suffer UEFA Champions League exit - 'We were better than them'
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ByOli Gent
Updated 18/04/2024 at 09:02 GMT
Pep Guardiola insisted that his Manchester City team were the better side after the Citizens relinquished their defence of the UEFA Champions League with a quarter-final exit to Real Madrid on penalties. The second leg ended 1-1 after Rodrygo opened the scoring and Kevin de Bruyne's equaliser, but Antonio Rudiger scored the crucial spot kick to send Real into yet another semi-final.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 17: Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, reacts after the team's defeat in the penalty shoot out during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg match between Manchester City and Real Madrid CF at Etihad Stadium
Image credit: Getty Images
Pep Guardiola insisted that his Manchester City side were “better” than Real Madrid, despite losing to the La Liga leaders in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final.
The defending European champions were beaten by the 14-time winners on penalties at the Etihad Stadium after playing out a 1-1 draw in the second leg, with Rodrygo’s first-half opener cancelled out by Kevin de Bruyne to force extra time.
Real defended resolutely as the Premier League outfit piled on the pressure, with Erling Haaland and De Bruyne going close in normal time and Bernardo Silva missing from close range.
However, Carlo Ancelotti’s Spanish side clung on to eke out a crucial victory that sees them progress into the semi-finals once more, where they will face Bayern Munich, who had beaten Arsenal 1-0 in the other last-eight tie.
“We did everything more than well in all departments,” Guardiola told TNT Sports afterwards.
“We were outstanding in the way we played, and unfortunately, we couldn’t win. Congratulations to Madrid.
“We should have scored before. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do it; they defended so deep in transitions. We controlled them. With the momentum and long balls and second balls they are good, but we controlled that department. We created everything, but we couldn’t win.
“We were better defensively because we conceded less chances than them. We were better than them, that’s for sure.
“What we have done in many years is creating more chances than the opponent, who create few. That’s what happened today. Unfortunately, we couldn’t [win] like in previous games here despite creating a lot.”
Real manager Ancelotti, who has won the competition a record four times as a manager, admitted that his side would have to “suffer” for large periods.
“I'm happy,” he said. “Difficult game. We knew that we were going to suffer. We suffered.
"It was a really difficult game, but to win here, you have to behave like we did. We had a great attitude. They had more control of the game; we started well.
“After that, they started to play and we had more difficulties, but we were able to keep going and stay concentrated at the back, and at the end, we won.”
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