Courtesy: Google
Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champions, surrendered against Real Madrid, more specifically Kylian Mbappe, in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League (UCL) 2024-25 playoff tie at the Santiago Bernabeu. After losing 1-3 on the night and 3-6 on aggregate, to bow out of the race for a round of 16 spot in the UCL, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was brutally honest in assessment of his team’s performance, and stated that “the best team won”.
The English champions arrived in Madrid for the second leg of the UCL playoff tie, trailing Real with a 2-3 scoreline, finding themselves firmly in the hunt to qualify through to the next stage. But Kylian Mbappe had other ideas as he scored a hat-trick for Real Madrid, with his goals coming in 4th, 33rd, and 61st minute, to put the tie firmly beyond Manchester City’s grasp, especially with the attacking players firmly neutralised by the defense.
The best team won, they deserved it. They were better: Pep Guardiola
Nico Gonzalez did score the consolation goal for Manchester City in the second half added time, denying a clean sheet to goal-keeper Thibaut Courtois, but the result of the leg and the tie were a foregone conclusion by then. In his post-match chat, Pep Guardiooal said, as per BBC Sport, “We couldn't defend well with the movement from Mbappe and it was more difficult… The best team won, they deserved it. They were better. What we have to do is accept the reality and move forward.”
When asked about how Kylian Mbappe managed to attain such great consistency in recent months in all competitions against all comers after a slow start to the season at Real Madrid, he remarked, as per Movistar, “Fulfilling my dream was one thing, but I wanted to play well, I wanted to define an era, to make history at Real Madrid. I had to play with personality."
“The most important thing is winning trophies. I've scored a lot of goals in my career, but let's see if it's all for nothing, because we didn't always win trophies. If I score a lot of goals and win trophies, I'll sign for that in blood,” he added.
