'We'd have lost 5-1' - Pep Guardiola loves the Man City change he saw vs Real Madrid

Pep Guardiola hailed the emotional improvement in Manchester City that saw them come away from Real Madrid with a draw.

Bernardo Silva gave the Blues an early advantage but goals from Eduardo Camavinga and Rodrygo turned the game around and City had to withstand a storm in the first half to stay in the tie. Guardiola's side improved in the second period after a reshuffle and Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol put them on course for a stunning victory.

Federico Valverde produced an outstanding volley to see the game end level, but Guardiola was still delighted with the way his team fought their way back into the game. City collapsed in this stadium two years ago for another painful exit and the coach thinks they would have been well beaten if they had not learnt from their struggles.

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"It's a process. This result or this game in the first three seasons together, we'd have lost 4-1 or 5-1," said Guardiola. "We were not stable emotionally. One of the key points in these games is being stable emotionally. It's fundamental.

"Take the good moments and be stable in the bad moments. I said to the players, if you imagine coming to the Bernabeu to play against Real in the Champions League - their competition - that your idea is going to happen in 90 minutes you are wrong because it's impossible to control all the time against Madrid.

"How you are stable and stick with the plan in the bad moments is the key point. It couldn't happen in the first years, you need time to learn and now we are more stable and hopefully in the future we can do better and better.

"We tried to do our job but they