The reigning Premier League champions were thoroughly outclassed by Real Madrid in the Champions League play-offs, suffering a 3-1 defeat at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night and losing 6-3 on aggregate over the two legs.
Despite their 3-2 loss at the Etihad Stadium, Man City traveled to the Spanish capital with hope, only for Kylian Mbappe to extinguish any chances of a comeback with a spectacular hat-trick. ..Continue Reading
Mbappe’s first goal came within five minutes, as he capitalized on a long ball that should have been dealt with by the Manchester City defense, delicately lobbing Ederson to score.
He further showcased his brilliance by wrong-footing Josko Gvardiol and beating Ederson with his second goal, before completing his 21st professional hat-trick after halftime.
Though Man City scored a consolation goal in injury-time, it was still a humbling experience for a team that won the Champions League less than two years ago.
Real Madrid had underperformed in the Champions League group stage and had not been at their best in La Liga, but this victory will likely convince many that the European trophy will remain at the Bernabeu.
Following Manchester City’s exit from the competition, Guardiola acknowledged Madrid as deserving ‘favorites’ in the Champions League and identified three other teams that could challenge Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
‘Of course Madrid are a contender, definitely,’ Guardiola said. ‘But there are other good teams around. It will be an interesting Champions League season.
‘Madrid are always favourites for this trophy. There are other teams who are having a very good season but Madrid are always favourites.
‘But there are other teams that are playing very well. Liverpool are having a really good season up until now, Barcelona are amazing, Paris Saint-Germain, with my friend Luis [Enrique] in charge, are on the march.
‘But obviously, Madrid are favourites.’
Discussing his team’s Champions League exit, Guardiola added: ‘The best team won. They deserved it.
‘This season we haven’t been so good – I felt that, in the previous seasons, we were better than Madrid, but this time not so.
‘In this competition, quality always counts. This season Madrid are capable of long [spells of] possession; they were dynamic, they’re fast when they run and they pressed well.
‘What you have to do is accept it and move on. Nothing is eternal. It was hard to bring the 3-2 [first-leg defeat] here but now we have to learn from this and accept that there are another, I don’t know… 30 or 40 games to come [this season].
‘We have to try to win the FA Cup, we have to try to finish in the top four in the league and we have to try to be back again in this competition next season.
‘I have very little to reproach my squad for in terms of how they’ve played in the Champions League over the years. When we were eliminated by Madrid in the past, I felt we were very close.
‘We reached semi-finals and finals. Tonight, when a team is better sportingly than you, you have to accept it and congratulate them.’
Meanwhile, Ancelotti said his team produced a ‘complete performance’ to knock Man City out with ease and progress to the next stage of the Champions League.
‘This has been the complete performance – attack, defence, with the ball and without the ball, we showed such high levels of quality,’ he said. ‘We created so many goal chances. Almost the perfect night.’
