UCL: Pep Guardiola admits City's failure to reach final is a tough pill to swallow

Manchester City succumbed to a 5-6 defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 semis, failing to enter final. Meanwhile, it is a tough pill to swallow for City boss Pep Guardiola.

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English champion Manchester City could not get the job done, as it lost to Spanish champion Real Madrid in the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League (UCL) semis. Played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on Wednesday, the second leg saw the Cityzens losing 1-3 and registering a 6-5 overall defeat. Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola has termed the defeat 'tough' to accept.

As for the match, leading 4-2 in the first leg, City took the lead in the second leg in its first strike, with Riyad Mahrez striking in the 73rd. Yet, Madrid turned it around quick, thanks to Rodrygo's twin strikes in the 90th minute and added time, taking it to extra time after being locked 5-5. In the ET, it was Karim Benzema's successful penalty in the 95th that handed Madrid the final berth.

After the defeat, Guardiola told Sky Sports, "I have had defeats in the Champions League, I had tough defeats at Barcelona when we could not reach the final. But, it is tough for us, I cannot deny that. We were so close to the Champions League final. We didn't play well in the first half, we didn't find our game. The second half was much better and after the goal, we had control. We found our game, but unfortunately, we could not finish. The players gave everything."

"We were so close. Before the first goal, we had two chances, one so clear with Jack [Grealish], which could maybe solve it. And, at that moment, we did not have the feeling that we were in trouble because of the way they attack. It happened, they scored a goal at the end. They have done it many times in their history, they put a lot of players in the box, like Militao and the strikers, and yeah, they found the goal," concluded Guardiola.

Guardiola feels that the regular late comebacks are what help the Madrid players in a positive manner. However, he was clueless about the performance of City's players and measured that they were going fine until the hosts struck back.