I’m struggling again at UCL… Manchester City manager Guardiola: ‘Football is unpredictable’

A comeback defeat to Real Madrid in the semi-finals… Last year’s ‘knee’ to Chelsea in the final

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City manager

[EPA=연합뉴스]

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Bo-in = Manchester City (herefollowing Manchester City) manager, Pep Guardiola, bowed his head in the UEFA Champions League once once more.

Manchester City lost 1-3 to Real Madrid in the second leg of the 2021-2022 UCL semi-final match held at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid, Spain on the 5th (Korean time).

Manchester City, who had won the first leg 4-3 at home last month, lost their first and second legs 5-6 on aggregate, and their progress to the final was frustrated.

Manchester City lost 0-1 to Chelsea (England) in the final of this tournament last season, finishing as runners-up.

This season, it was difficult to win the championship, but the dream was shattered.

In an interview following the match, manager Guardiola said, “I suffered a hard loss. I was facing the Champions League final.”

“We didn’t play well in the first half,” he explains.

Manchester City took the lead with Riyad Mahrez’s goal in the 28th minute of the second half, but they were shaken by two goals from Rodrigo in the 45th and 46th minutes of the second half.

In the 5th minute of extra time, Real Madrid won the match with a penalty goal from Karim Benzema.

Man City manager Guardiola (left) and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti greet each other
Man City manager Guardiola (left) and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti greet each other

[AFP=연합뉴스]

“We didn’t do our best,” Guardiola said. “In the semi-finals, the players feel pressure. Football is unpredictable. You have to accept it.”

Guardiola, who has not been able to lift the UCL trophy for a while, must be very disappointed.

Guardiola won the UCL twice, in the 2008-2009 season and the 2010-2011 season, when he led FC Barcelona (Spain), but since then, he has been far from the top.

From his time at Barcelona and Bayern Munich (Germany) to this year, he has been eliminated six times in the UCL semifinals alone. In this category, he shared a bitter joint first place with AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho.

On the other hand, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti became the coach with the most finals in UCL history.

He has reached the UCL finals five times, with AC Milan and Real Madrid.

“A similar thing happened tonight with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and with Chelsea in the quarter-finals,” Ancelotti said. did it

boin@yna.co.kr

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