Real thriller
Pep has ‘no complaints’ over wasteful finishing against Madrid
PEP GUARDIOLA had no complaints over Manchester City’s profligacy in front of goal in their 43 win over Real Madrid but believes they will not reach the Champions League final if they repeat their second half performance.
City raced into a 2-0 lead within the opening half hour and created enough chances to take a healthy advantage into next week’s second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu but allowed Madrid back into the tie.
Two Karim Benzema strikes – one a Panenka penalty – and a fine individual goal by Vinicius Jr mean that Guardiola and his players will have to defend a slender onegoal advantage in Madrid.
“Regardless of the result, if it was 2-0 or 3-0 we would still have to go to Bernabeu and play well,” the City manager said.
“If we play like we did in the second half, we won’t be able to win. If we play like we did at other periods, we will.
“We want to be there to put on a good show, that is what I want to tell my players to do. Don’t think of anything else.”
“When I became a footballer and a manager, when you go to the Bernabeu or there is no option to win. You have to come through these situations to win the
Champions League.”
Guardiola was unconcerned by City’s wastefulness in front of goal, which saw Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez both spurn excellent opportunities either side of half time.
“We miss (chances) but we create them,” Guardiola said. “We were there all the time. We were there. No complaints about the result, the performance, anything.
“I am so proud of the way we perform in front of the world. We did everything to win and with courage, with the ball, without the ball.
“What I want is to perform like Liverpool here or Brighton or Watford. Football is football, the result is the result but how we perform is exceptional. Nobody can say the performance was not good.
“We know we have to maybe rise the level to reach the final but this competition demands that.
“At the end maybe the chances we create we have to convert. I want to convince my players that we won the game and heads up.”
Midfielder Foden admitted City missed the opportunity to kill Madrid off and warned his team will be punished if they continue to waste chances in the second leg.
“We started really well and could have killed them off. In these games, we need to take more chances,” Foden told BT Sport.
“We are playing a side that have won the Champions League many times and if we give the ball away they are going to punish us. It is something we need to work on in the second leg.”
Benzema’s late penalty, awarded after a handball on Aymeric Laporte, changed the complexion of the tie and left City at the risk of feeling flat despite winning the first leg, with goalscorer Bernardo Silva urging his side to look at the positives of their display.
“I think the first 20 minutes, we were so, so good, the way we pressed, controlled the game, and created chances,” Silva said.
“Over the 90 minutes, it felt like we could have won with a better score.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to take advantages of our two-goal differences. That’s the Champions League.
“We played against one of the best teams in the world. On to the next game.
“We still won the first game. I know it’s just 90 minutes, and we have 90 minutes left.
“I think the fans should be proud of us, and the team should be proud of the work that we did. They took their chances. We could have taken a bit more.” – The Independent