Pep Guardiola has delivered a brutally honest verdict on Manchester City’s hopes of overturning their Champions League deficit against Real Madrid, admitting the chances are currently “not much.”
‘Right Now, Not Much’ – Guardiola Delivers Honest Verdict on City’s Champions League Hopes
The Citizens face a monumental task at the Etihad Stadium next Tuesday after suffering a 3-0 defeat in the first leg of their last-16 tie at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Federico Valverde stole the show with a stunning hat-trick for Los Blancos on Wednesday night, putting the Spanish giants in complete control of the tie.
Real Madrid could have extended their lead even further, but goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma denied Vinicius Jr from the penalty spot to keep the scoreline respectable.
Despite that small positive, City now need a historic comeback to avoid crashing out at the same stage to the same opposition for the second season running.
When a reporter asked Guardiola about his team’s prospects of reaching the quarter-finals, the manager did not hide from the harsh reality.
“Right now, not much,” Guardiola admitted in his post-match press conference.
“Of course we are going to try. Now everything is more difficult with our mindset, but we will be there.
We will be with our people, and we can do more to be better in the final third. We will try.”
Before they can fully focus on the European tie, City must navigate a tricky Premier League fixture away to West Ham United on Saturday evening.
With Arsenal pushing hard in the title race, Guardiola knows his side cannot afford to drop any more points.
Winger Jeremy Doku remains defiant despite the heavy defeat in Spain. The Belgian believes the game could have taken a different turn had City taken their early opportunities.
“Against teams like Real Madrid, you know that as soon as you lose the ball, they are just waiting to play a counter-attack, and then they score,” Doku explained.
“They scored three goals, and then it is difficult to come back because they played very defensively.
But I feel like if we scored the first chances that we had, it is a different game.”
Doku also took encouragement from Donnarumma’s penalty save and insists the squad still believes in their ability.
“That save helped us massively,” he added. “We are still confident. We know that at the Etihad, it is a different game.
We will need our fans to help us. If they can score three goals, why can’t we?”
