After Manchester City were booted out of the UEFA Champions League by Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola has attempted to explain why his side were defeated.
The first leg of the quarter-final between the two sides ended in a 3-3 draw, and it was a similar in the return fixture on Wednesday night, with both teams unable to be separated in both regulation and extra-time.
Read: MLS stars reveal their feelings on Hlongwane
After a 12th minute opener by Los Blancos attacker Rodrygo, City eventually managed to get themselves level courtesy of a 76th minute strike by Kevin De Bruyne.
Despite much probing from Guardiola's men, they were unable to find a second before the match was to be decided on penalties, where a strike from Antonio Rudiger catapulted Real to the semi-final stage of the competition.
Guardiola has since praised the efforts of his players and declared that he had no regrets.
"Congratulations to Real Madrid – they defended so deep with incredible solidarity," Guardiola said at post-match press conference, per City's official website.
"We did everything. I don't have any regrets about what we have done.
"Always, as managers, we try to create more and concede less in every single game because that helps to win. We did everything, defensively and offensively."
The Spanish tactician went on to explain that he felt the Citizens should have won the game before the shootout by converting their chances.
"They defended deeper than previous seasons and we create the chances to do it but football is about scoring goals. They did it better than us," Guardiola continued.
"I have the duty to say thank you to my players for the way they played but this is about results. They will be in the semi-finals, we will not. The performance and commitment was exceptional.
"It is what it is, sometimes you win penalties, sometimes not.
"The way we played, we should have done it before [penalties]. We did not convert the chances we had and we defended the transition really well.
"Everyone was at a high level. To beat Real Madrid, we had to perform our best. We were our best but it was not enough."
Read: The African stars who powered Leverkusen to a league triumph
Los Meringues will now go on to face Bayern Munich in the semi-finals, while Paris Saint-Germain will do battle against Borussia Dortmund for a place in the final.
City, meanwhile, will be on the hunt for domestic success in the form of the FA Cup and the Premier League title.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
WATCH:
