Guardiola on City penalty heartbreak after UCL exit to Real Madrid
Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
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00:00 SIGHS
00:02 Evening, guys, we'll take questions in English first,
00:09 and then in Spanish.
00:10 Can we take a show of hands, please?
00:12 I'll come to as many of you as I can.
00:13 We'll start with Simon here, please.
00:15 Hi, Pep.
00:21 Other than the result and the penalties,
00:24 given you dominated the game,
00:26 is there anything you can look back on with regret,
00:28 or you could have done differently as a team?
00:31 Yes.
00:34 I would have preferred to win.
00:36 First of all, congratulations to Real Madrid,
00:37 to reach the semi-finals they defend so deep,
00:40 with incredible solidarity.
00:42 So, we did everything.
00:46 I don't have absolutely any regret about what we have done.
00:48 So, always we try as managers,
00:51 and so create more and concede less in every single game,
00:55 because we believe that helps to be close to winning,
00:58 and we did everything.
00:59 So, defensively, offensively, they make a good goal.
01:04 So, one, two, three or four transitions,
01:08 but it is normal in that level and the quality they have.
01:10 But we play exceptional in all departments, in everything,
01:16 and unfortunately we could not win, so that's where it is.
01:20 Ben?
01:21 Pep, how do you pick the players up?
01:25 Because you've already spoken about the schedule being really tight for Saturday's game.
01:28 It's a huge game, obviously, in terms of your season.
01:31 How do you pick the players up, get recovery, because obviously with extra time...
01:34 Yes, we'll see tomorrow.
01:36 So, now it's rest, and tomorrow we'll come back.
01:41 And Friday we travel to London to play the game.
01:46 So, we'll see.
01:49 Maybe Friday, Saturday, of course, we'll see how the people react,
01:53 for the mood, and of course the recovery, winning is easier than losing that day,
01:57 but it's what it is.
01:58 So, it's a semi-final, a fair game, we'll try to compete as best as possible.
02:01 James?
02:02 Pep, I think for the second leg last year in the Premier League,
02:07 you said that you were 100 per cent confident you would win that game.
02:12 Sorry?
02:13 Last year, before you played at Liverpool,
02:15 you were really confident you were going to win that game,
02:17 after what happened the previous year.
02:19 I wondered, did you have that same feeling going into this game,
02:22 if not, why not?
02:23 For the way we played, yeah.
02:26 It was two or three years ago, and we won 4-3,
02:29 we played outstanding as well, and last season as well,
02:34 and the three games were quite similar today.
02:37 They defended deeper than the previous seasons,
02:39 and we created chances to do it, but football is about scoring goals,
02:44 and they did it a little bit better in the penalty spot than us.
02:49 But I had the duty to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to these players,
02:54 for the way they played, the way they played against that team,
02:57 and the way we played.
02:59 So, this is a part of us all as a business,
03:02 and they will be in the semi-finals, we are not, for little margins,
03:05 but the performance and the commitment for everything was exceptional.
03:10 Sam?
03:12 Pep, you've controlled so much of that game and gone out on a penalty shoot-out,
03:15 does that make it more painful to go out when you've played so well?
03:18 It is what it is, sometimes you win a penalty, sometimes not.
03:21 For the way we played, we should have done it before,
03:25 but we were not converted the chances that we had,
03:28 and we defended really well in the transition with our physicality,
03:31 with Manu, with Josco, with Kyle, and everyone was at a high level.
03:37 So, we spoke to Winters-Royal Madrid, we had to perform our best,
03:41 and we were our best, but it was not enough.
03:45 Two quick questions about the penalties,
03:48 did you think Bernardo was affected by the ball not going back to him quicker?
03:54 I don't know.
03:55 Bernardo asked for the first, 'I want to take it, I want to take it',
03:58 he's a reliable player and decided to shoot in that way,
04:03 but absolutely Bernardo, once again, what a game he played.
04:07 It happened, the ball went out, and that's what it is.
04:11 Were you tempted to keep Kevin on, knowing there was a possibility of penalties?
04:17 Erling and Kevin asked me to go out, I could not continue, like Manu.
04:23 The game we were playing was amazing,
04:26 I'm a big fan to make a lot of substitutions,
04:29 but Kevin, Erling and Manu asked me to go out because we could not continue.
04:33 Last question, English please, with Rob.
04:36 Real Madrid have obviously got some fantastic attacking players,
04:38 but were you surprised at how deep they wanted to defend?
04:41 I don't judge the ideas from Carlo and the way they decide to play,
04:46 I'm not here to do this.
04:49 OK, we'll take some questions in Spanish, Paul, just on this side please.
04:52 In the blue hoodie.
04:55 Hello, how are you? Antonio Romero, live for the La Cadena SER.
05:05 You have said on many occasions, apart from showing respect in this competition,
05:09 that to win this competition you have to eliminate Real Madrid.
05:14 From a footballing point of view, the Real Madrid qualification today is very difficult to explain.
05:18 What other explanation do you have for the qualification?
05:21 No, no, in this competition it's football.
05:25 It's football.
05:28 In other sports, by statistics, if we had won,
05:33 but football has this wonderful thing,
05:35 what we have to do is play the way we play,
05:39 to throw away the chances we have tried to give them,
05:42 to avoid their transitions.
05:44 We did that most of the time.
05:46 They scored a fantastic goal against Bellingham,
05:50 we know how good they are,
05:53 but we have to, we have talked about this before,
05:55 we didn't ask ourselves to win 4-0 like last year,
05:58 or to score four goals like the previous one, none of that.
06:02 We have to make an effort to be ourselves,
06:05 to be always at the end,
06:07 which has taken us so many years to be here,
06:09 and we have done it.
06:11 We have done it in many things.
06:13 It hasn't been enough, it hasn't been enough.
06:16 We were out, we probably had,
06:18 because of the way we played,
06:19 to have scored before, to have closed it before,
06:22 and then the penalties, well,
06:25 it happens what happens.
06:26 I insist, I congratulate Madrid,
06:28 because their ability to resist,
06:32 to defend very well until the end,
06:35 they have done it fantastically well,
06:37 and we haven't been able to,
06:39 in the last pass, in the last shot,
06:41 in those little details,
06:43 to score.
06:45 Hi, Alberto Pereira here, live from the Radio Estadio Noche 1/0.
06:48 You said before, in the first English answer,
06:49 that you have played exceptionally well,
06:51 I agree, because it has been,
06:53 from the first half until the end of the season,
06:55 a constant city.
06:56 Madrid tend to do that kind of thing,
06:58 but added to the game against Barnabéu
07:00 and the tie in the previous seasons,
07:02 do you have the feeling that we see
07:04 the European Classic, the best game
07:05 that can be seen in Europe, is when the city and Madrid come together?
07:07 Yes, people have had a good time,
07:08 tired of life, I imagine that now
07:10 the Madridistas will be happier than we are.
07:13 I think that the three games
07:15 that have been played recently,
07:16 that we have played here, have been similar,
07:18 we have played very, very well,
07:21 our level in Barnabéu has not been the same,
07:23 we got a good result in Barnabéu,
07:25 and we haven't been able to close it here.
07:27 As a coach, I can only ask
07:29 my players to do this,
07:31 we have done it for many years,
07:32 and we have continued to do it.
07:34 Of course I give credit to Real Madrid,
07:36 if they have been able to resist
07:39 and endure, endure,
07:40 because for many years,
07:42 we have faced each other in teams like this,
07:44 very, very closed,
07:46 and we always find a way,
07:48 more or less, to be able to break it.
07:50 Well, today we have missed it,
07:51 we have missed the last shot,
07:54 a block,
07:56 and that's it,
07:58 we have to accept it, there is nothing else.
08:00 La Pep, Jabrán Romero, El Mundo.
08:04 In football, I don't know if you find
08:06 many differences between the 4-0
08:08 of last year and the 1-1,
08:09 I mean, the superiority, the chances,
08:12 I don't know if there is,
08:13 the only thing that has really been missing is luck.
08:16 Juan Cruyff used to say,
08:19 he used to tell me that luck doesn't exist,
08:21 and I quite agree.
08:22 In the end, we haven't managed to score,
08:24 that's enough.
08:26 We have done everything to do it,
08:29 losing like this hurts,
08:31 but the next time, you say,
08:31 well, what a way,
08:34 what a great way to lose,
08:35 in this way, of course it hurts,
08:37 today we are bad, we will sleep badly,
08:38 and tomorrow we have to get up and continue,
08:41 you can't always win,
08:44 you try,
08:45 and we have done it.
08:46 What can I say to these players,
08:48 that for so long we have been here,
08:50 and we have done it,
08:52 and we have shown again,
08:53 against a great team like Madrid,
08:55 that we can be ourselves,
08:57 and that's it.
08:59 What else can I say?
09:00 Explanations?
09:02 I don't know,
09:03 I don't know what else we can do,
09:04 I would say,
09:05 we can do more details,
09:06 be more precise in the areas
09:08 where there are 7 or 8 players,
09:10 I don't know,
09:10 I don't know what else we could have done,
09:13 and the margin of,
09:13 well, we have lost penalties,
09:15 by 4-3 or 5-4,
09:18 4-3,
09:18 we have missed this,
09:20 there is nothing else.
09:21 Last question, please.
09:23 Eduardo Vidal from HSM Deportes,
09:25 what do you consider to be the most difficult thing to face
09:28 when you play against this type of team,
09:30 that defend in a low block?
09:32 We have found ourselves like this for many years,
09:35 there are teams that are more open,
09:37 today not,
09:38 they know it is a difficult field to come,
09:42 and they have tried,
09:46 we have pressed very well,
09:47 especially the second half,
09:48 the first one too,
09:50 and nothing,
09:53 what can I say,
09:55 it is not the first time we have found ourselves like this,
09:57 sometimes we find the way,
09:58 and other times,
09:59 we have had a lot of presence in the area,
10:01 many shots,
10:02 we have done it,
10:03 but it has simply not reached us,
10:06 I don't know what else we could have done,
10:08 we have done everything,
10:09 but in the end,
10:11 in Madrid it is in the semi-finals,
10:13 and we have not.
10:14 Thank you guys.