Pep Guardiola accuses the blow. At the end of the meeting, he did not really want to go back at length on this failure against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of the Champions League. One more for him and Manchester City in C1. Touched by this disillusionment and the crazy scenario of this meeting, the Catalan coach was succinct in front of the microphones. “I suffered other difficult defeats in the Champions League, such as that of Chelsea with Barça (Editor’s note: semi-final 2012)”, he admits, not wanting to dramatize this Madrid evening.
His failures with Manchester City, however, are starting to pile up. He who has not found how to go to the end in C1 since his departure from Barça. But we really understand in his way of talking about this meeting that he took a hit this Wednesday evening. “We had trouble getting into the game, it’s a hard blow and it’s normalhe concedes on Movistar +. We missed a little thing in the first half, we failed to give continuity. And in the second half, when we were better, we managed to score… And then there were those two minutes…“
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Two minutes of madness from Real Madrid where the Manchester boat sank. Two minutes where the dreams of the Citizens flew away. “We were close. We were close. But in the end we couldn’t reach it“, slips the Catalan coach on BT Sport. “We had the game under control and they started to play high and managed to score. I have the experience of knowing that we weren’t in the final yet, but we were close. They are capable of writing history, as I have already said. We must congratulate them, like Liverpool“.
Conversely, Manchester City may regret not having been able to impose its football and its identity, as the SkyBlues know how to do so well usually. Because we did not necessarily recognize Kevin de Bruyne and his teammates. “We didn’t play our best. But that’s normal. In a semi-final, the players feel the pressure. Football is unpredictable, it’s a game like that, we have to accept itr.” The pill will, however, have a hard time passing. A lot of trouble even. And a risk now hovers over the end of the season for the Mancunians: losing everything.
Eliminated from the FA Cup, the League Cup, beaten in the Community Shield and therefore out of the C1, they have a fierce fight to conclude with Liverpool in the Premier League. First with a small point more than the Reds in their domestic league, the Mancunian club has four matches to win to secure a new title. A nice consolation prize. But this slap in C1 could play in the heads and legs of Guardiola’s proteges: “We have to digest this and come home for the last four games of the season“. With a completely different dynamic.
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