Guardiola: City were close but we failed to do better
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola accepted his side's defeat after a stunning comeback sent Real Madrid into the Champions League final yesterday as City's hopes for another season were dashed.
The English team was leading 1-0 until substitute Rodrigo equalized for Real Madrid in the last minute and then added the second goal a minute later.
Karim Benzema completed the uprising with a penalty in overtime as Real Madrid won 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu and 6-5 on aggregate.
"We were close, we were close. But in the end we failed to reach the final," Guardiola told BT Sport. "We didn't play in the first half, we didn't perform well enough, but we didn't have problems either.
After we scored the goal, we were the better party, we found our rhythm, and the team played in comfort.” He added, “(Real Madrid) put many players in the penalty area with Militao, Rodrygo, Vinicius and Benzema, cross passes and scored two goals.
We didn't give our best, but that's normal, in the semi-finals the players feel the pressure and the desire to qualify.
Football is unexpected, it's such a match.
We have to accept it."
The Champions League title is still missing from the treasury of the English team, which won its only continental title in the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1970. City was eliminated from the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in 2016 and then from the quarter-finals in 2018 and 2019 against local rivals Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively.
The team was eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2020 against Olympique Lyonnais, before losing 1-0 in the final last season against Chelsea.
"We need to get over (the defeat) and come back with our fans in the last four games of this season," said Guardiola, whose team leads the English Premier League by one point.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news