Guardiola admits City have not been good enough following Champions League exit

Pep Guardiola admits his Manchester City side have not been good enough in the Champions League this season and says “the best team won” after they were dumped out of the competition by holders Real Madrid.

Kylian Mbappe scored a hat-trick as Real ran out 3-1 winners at the Bernabeu, and 6-3 on aggregate, to reach the Round of 16.

Nico Gonzalez scored an injury-time goal for City but it was little more than consolation on a night when the Spanish giants reasserted their credentials as Champions League contenders this term.

FULL-TIME | Our #UCL campaign comes to an end.

⚪️ 3-1 🤎 #ManCity pic.twitter.com/WlCJmuAqfI

— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 19, 2025

With Erling Haaland on the bench, Guardiola’s side, on the other hand, lacked any real threat going forward and struggled to contain the host’s attacking front-line.

“Over the 180 minutes, we have a good half an hour or 35 minutes but the rest we struggled,” Guardiola told TNT Sports after the game.

“Coming here [the Bernabeu] a goal down and start with an injury to John [Stones] after the action for the first goal, it was a little bit like what has happened all season.

“But it’s more difficult with the quality they [Real] have.”

“After conceding a goal in the first action, we didn’t defend well. It’s more and more difficult. We accept it, the best team won, congratulations Real Madrid and now focus on the Premier League.

When asked about the quality of Mbappe, the City boss added: “It’s not just him, they have a fantastic team. They deserved to go through. We didn’t deserve to. It is the first year we didn’t make a good Champions League season. We accept it and fight for next season to be here again.

“We are lucky to be here many years in this competition. We were so satisfied to win it once. We have accept that right now, this season, we are not close enough to be there. We will see what happens in the future.”

Next up for City is the visit of Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday.