Pep won’t ‘judge’ Madrid for defensive game plan

Pep Guardiola said he wouldn’t “judge” Real Madrid for their style of play after they knocked Manchester City out of the Champions League on penalties.

Holders City dominated the game after Rodrygo‘s early goal, but could only muster an equaliser from Kevin De Bruyne from their 33 shots on goal.

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Real Madrid, meanwhile, had eight shots and didn’t win a corner until midway through extra time before winning the shootout 4-3 to seal a place in the semifinals, where they’ll face Bayern Munich.

“I don’t judge,” said Guardiola, when asked whether he had been surprised by Real Madrid’s defensive approach. “We’ve found that type of opponent in the past. Some teams are more open, some play a lower block. They know it’s a difficult ground to come to and they’ve tried. We really pushed them, particularly in the second half.

“We were on the edge of the box and had lots of shots from outside the area, but we weren’t able to achieve it. We did everything we could but in the end Madrid go through and we don’t.”

City had the chances to go through in normal time, but saw Erling Haaland‘s first-half header hit the crossbar and De Bruyne blaze over the top from inside the penalty area with the score at 1-1.

“I would have preferred to have won, but congratulations to Real Madrid,” added Guardiola. “We did everything, so I have absolutely no regret about anything we have done.

“We played exceptional, but unfortunately we could not win so it is what it is. I have to say thank you to these players from deep in my heart because of the way they played. But football is about winning and we didn’t do enough yet we were exceptional.

“Sometimes you can win on penalties and sometimes you cannot. But in the game we did not convert the chances that we had.”

After a gruelling 120 minutes of football and the disappointment of losing on penalties, Guardiola faces a tough task to lift his players for Saturday’s FA Cup semifinal against Chelsea at Wembley.

The City boss said Haaland, De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji were all substituted against Real Madrid because they “could not continue” and “asked to come out.”

“Now we rest and tomorrow [Thursday] we come back and on Friday we travel to London to play the game,” said Guardiola. “We will see how people will react and of course the recovery is easier when winning than losing, but it is the semifinal of the FA Cup and we will try to compete as much as possible.”

The loss put an end to City’s quest for a second treble in a row, but domestically Guardiola’s side leads the Premier League and can still win the FA Cup.