Champions League: Manchester City played “exceptionally”, according to Guardiola

Manchester City “played exceptionally” but “football is results” declared coach Pep Guardiola at a press conference after his team's elimination by Real Madrid. Would he have wanted to change anything in his approach to the quarter-final second leg, lost on penalties? “I would have preferred to win. Congratulations to Real Madrid for qualifying for the semi-final, they defended really low and with great solidarity,” he said.

“I have no regrets about what we did. Always, as a coach, we try to create the most scoring opportunities and concede the fewest,” he added, seeming to regret Real Madrid's defensive tactics. "I do not judge. I’m not here for that,” he said.

“Today they defended lower than in recent seasons and we created the chances. But football is about scoring goals and they did it better than us during the penalty shootout,” he said. “Football is about results. They will be in the semi-finals and we will not be there,” insisted the coach of the outgoing European champions.

Guardiola assured that his team had “played exceptionally well in all areas of the game, but unfortunately we didn't win, that's how it is. But I have to say thank you to the players from the bottom of my heart for the way they played against this team. “To beat Real Madrid you have to be at your best, we were at our best but it wasn't enough,” he concluded.