It took two late strikes in one minute from Real Madrid wonder boy, Rodrigo to dash Pep Guardiola’s hope of winning the UEFA Champions League trophy with Manchester City.
Manchester City had already taken the lead through Riyad Mahrez in the 73rd minute and the Cityzens looked like they are heading for their second Champions League final in a row but two quick goals in succession changed the whole dynamics of the game.
The game was tied at 5-5 on aggregate, the game went to extra time and it didn’t take long before Real Madrid completed the comeback. Karim Benzema scored from the spot-kick after he was fouled in the box by Ruben Dias.
The goal takes the French striker’s tally to 43 goals in 43 official games for the Los Blancos this season. The in-form striker is now the top favorite to win the Balon D’or, with his outstanding performances, helping Real Madrid to the 35th league title last weekend and is now in the final of the Champions League.
However, this defeat means that Guardiola still has a lot of tasks ahead of him because he was appointed by the Cityzen’s owner to win the UEFA Champions League for them. Last season was the only time he got to the final since his arrival in 2016 but was beaten by Chelsea’s Tuchel.
Speaking to the Press after Last night’s encounter, the 51-year-old tactician said:
“It’s tough for us to take but with time we will rise and come up again, We’ll try to do it again with our fans” “need time now, one or two days, but we’ll rise, we come up, we have to do it with our people,” said Guardiola.
He further asserted “I’ve experienced defeats that are more heartbreaking than this, when I was in Barcelona and we faced Chelsea in both legs, we dominated but in the end, we didn’t go through. It’s one of those things that happens in football and we can’t deny that it wasn’t tough for us”.
The last time Guardiola won the Champions League was in the 2010-11 season against Manchester United, he has not lifted the trophy since he left Barcelona, missing out on several occasions with Bayern Munich and now Manchester City, the Spanish gaffer will continue his quest for a Champions League trophy next season.
Pep and his boys will now shift their attention to another important match in the Premier League against Newcastle, Manchester City can not afford to drop any more points as they look to retain the Premier League title.
The Cityzens are top of the log with 83 points, just a point ahead of Liverpool with 82 points and four games each.
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