Josep Guardiola has issued an alarming statement after Manchester City’s heavy defeat to Real Madrid in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. The Catalan boss admitted it would be almost impossible to turn things around against the La Liga giants.
Has Guardiola thrown in the towel?
Manager Guardiola admitted in the post-match press conference, “Options for a comeback? There aren’t many. We’ll try, but the chances are low,” and revealed the big challenge facing his team in the return match at the Etihad Stadium.
Despite a 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 too harsh.
“I feel like we played well. We got into the final third a lot and our passes worked, but we lacked the finishing touches. We didn’t protect the opening goal properly.”
Josep Guardiola stressed that the Premier League champions created enough danger to score but failed at crucial moments.
“I don’t think our performance was bad enough to deserve to lose 3-0. We reached the six-yard box many times but couldn’t find the finishing touch. That was the detail we were missing,” he added.
That said, the manager also recognized the merits of Real Madrid, with the Champions League giants once again showing their effectiveness on Europe’s big night.
“Madrid deserved the result. They are a very high-quality team and cut off a lot of our transitions. In the second half we played better and had some chances,” he pointed out.
Manchester City now need a historic comeback in the Champions League if they are to survive in European competition, but even Josep Guardiola admits the task will be extremely difficult if they face Real Madrid again at the Etihad Stadium.
