Pep Guardiola has admitted Manchester City have “not much” chance of overturning their Real Madrid deficit after suffering a 3–0 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the UEFA Champions League.
City were stunned by a devastating first-half display from Federico Valverde, who struck a remarkable 22-minute hat-trick to leave the English champions facing an uphill task ahead of next week’s second leg at the Etihad Stadium.
The visitors were handed a brief moment of relief in the second half when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma saved a penalty from Vinícius Júnior, but the damage had already been done.
Speaking after the match, Guardiola was candid about City’s chances of progressing to the quarter-finals.
“Now, not much,” he said when asked about their prospects.
“Of course we’re going to try. We will analyse what we must do better, be more active in the final third and we will try.”
Before the match, Carlo Ancelotti suggested Guardiola might surprise with his starting line-up — and the City manager did exactly that.
Guardiola handed starts to Jérémy Doku, Savinho and Abdukodir Khusanov, while also deploying Nico O’Reilly at left-back despite the 20-year-old normally playing in midfield.
It was O’Reilly who was caught out for the opening goal, misjudging a long ball from Thibaut Courtois which allowed Valverde to strike.
Guardiola replaced Savinho at half-time with City trailing 3–0 and later defended his tactical decisions.
“How many times has Nico O’Reilly played left-back this season? How many times?” Guardiola said when questioned about his selection.
“The only adjustment was Khusanov in that area because Vinícius arrives there and you have to control that.
He also pointed to his squad rotation earlier in the season as justification for the approach.
“I rotated in Newcastle with 11 different players and it was fine, so understand what I’m saying,” he added.
Guardiola explained that the plan had been for City’s wingers to stretch Madrid’s defence while players in central areas attacked the spaces around the penalty box, allowing quick forwards to run in behind.
Despite the heavy defeat, City will attempt to produce a dramatic comeback when the two sides meet again in Manchester next week.
