Pep Guardiola reacts to Real Madrid resurrection vs Man City

Pep Guardiola says his players will need time to get over their Champions League collapse against Real Madrid. The Manchester City boss saw his side throw away a comfortable two-goal aggregate lead in added time in the Bernabeu when a final date against Premier League rivals Liverpool in Paris seemed a certainty.

City have a home game with Newcastle on Sunday, by which time Jurgen Klopp's team could have leapfrogged them at the top of the table, after facing Tottenham on Saturday night. But Guardiola says the nature of the defeat, with two Rodrygo goals wiping out Riyad Mahrez's opener, before Karim Benzema's penalty won it for Real, was hard to take.

“We were close but we were in trouble when they put balls into the box, with so many crosses,” said Guardiola. "I had defeats in the Champions League, at Barcelona and we could not reach the final, but there's no doubt it's hard for us.

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“We can't deny we were so close to the Champions League final. We didn't play well in the first half but it's normal in this competition."

But he said Real's resurrection was no coincidence: "“It has happened many times in their history. They put a lot of players in the box, all of them crosses, and they scored two goals. We didn't suffer much until they scored, but we didn't play our best.

"After the goal we controlled the game, Jack (Grealish) helped us control it. We could not finish when we were close.

"We need time now. We have to do it with our people. The players gave everything. We were so close. We couldn’t do it. In the history of football this happens. With the people supporting them it’s more difficult.

"This will have a positive impact on the Real players. On us? I don’t know. They won, that’s it.