Manchester City beat Real Madrid 4-3, on Tuesday, at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, and now the whole decision is postponed to the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
“It was a boxing match, it was an enjoyable match for us as well as for the fans,” Guardiola said in the post-match press conference.
He explained, “We gave everything. We played a good match and we will see the same team in a week. We know the value of Real Madrid and its potential.”
And he added: “We will try to play a good match in the return, but the focus now is on the Leeds United match in the league.”
He stressed, “I am satisfied with the result. We played good football and showed good character. It was an important test and we cannot predict what will happen in the return.”
Guardiola stressed: “The result could have been better, but I have no objection. We have to do the same at the Santiago Bernabeu.”
He continued: “I would like to thank John Stones and Fernandinho for their efforts. It is not normal to control Vinicius, but I was sure that Fernandinho would play well when he participated in place of Stones.”
Carlo Ancelotti
For his part, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti stressed that his team and his fans must fight in the Champions League semi-final return match against Manchester City, for another magical night.
“We have to be ready,” Ancelotti said at the match’s press conference. “We and the fans have to fight again, for another magical night.”
He stressed, “Benzema played a great match as usual. He had the personality to take the penalty in a brilliant way. Modric also played a great match, but sometimes you have to push a new player in the last minutes to get the ball back.”
And he added, “I didn’t pull Modric because he was bad. Dani Ceballos was also great, and he played with a strong personality.”
He continued: “Angry because we lost a lot of conflicts in the first half. City scored two goals that could have been avoided with more focus, but our reaction was good and we revived the match in the second leg.”
“We started very badly, we were soft, but we showed what we showed before, which is our ability to react.”
He concluded: “We continued the game until the end, but we had to defend better. We were good and the ball is with us, but in the second leg we have to defend better, this is very important.”
