Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City’s Champions League exit should not be viewed as a failure. City led 5-3 on aggregate in the second leg of their semi-final against Real Madrid in the 90th minute, but Real struck twice to force extra time.
After that, the hosts won 3-1 on the night, depriving Guardiola of his first Champions League victory with City after six years at the club. “If people think it’s a failure, I disagree,” the 51-year-old Spanish coach remarked.
Guardiola won the Champions League with Barcelona twice as a coach, in 2009 and 2011. Despite winning the Premier League three times under Guardiola, the closest City has come to European glory is reaching the Champions League final last season, where they lost to Chelsea.
“The players understand how difficult it is, but they accept it,” Guardiola continued. I’m not going to start a discussion here. We have the impression in the club that we tried it again. Of course, we’re disappointed because we were close—but not close enough. Madrid is deserving. “
The players desired to play in the final, but it was a thrill for this club to compete against Real in the manner that we did. “I congratulate Liverpool and Real Madrid. They have earned it. We’ll try again, and if that fails, we’ll try again. “
Real will meet Liverpool in a rematch of 2018 final on May 28 in Paris. The defending champions are a point ahead of Liverpool with four games remaining in the Premier League and will play Newcastle on Sunday.
Guardiola stated, “No words can describe how we feel.” Time will tell. We try to fall asleep while thinking about our objectives. We’ll all be together on Saturday to discuss who we are as a team and how we got to the Champions League semi-finals.
“We can’t make predictions about the future based on what happened in the past.” Newcastle is the most effective type of concentration. It’s all I’ve got. “We came close—they and we both know that—but the key thing is that we will try again next season. Maybe I’m not up to the task of assisting the team. Nobody knows what would have happened if different players or management had been involved.
However, it is an honor for us to participate in as many competitions as possible. We weren’t close enough, but we were there, in my opinion. We’ll try again next season. City were on the verge of securing a spot in the final against Liverpool when Real Bernabeu startled them with an incredible comeback.
