'Bad decisions..'- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola makes blunt admission about loss to Real Madrid in UCL

At the Etihad Stadium, Real Madrid overtakes Manchester City 3-2 on the road in the last moments of their Champions League play-off encounter. The Spanish team has the edge going into next week's second leg of their Champions League knockout round play-off match after Manchester City let two leads slip. With two goals from Erling Haaland, the home team took the lead in the game, but Kylian Mbappé and Brahim Diaz responded for the visitors. Subsequently, Jude Bellingham effortlessly finished the dagger with seconds remaining.

Pep Guardiola feels that his team's late-game tactics were foolish and allowed Los Blancos to exert pressure. Even though Manchester City held out until halfway, Mbappe managed to equalise the score after the break. According to Pep Guardiola, it was the most recent setback for his once-dominant team.

“Many times it happened this season." "I know the quality of Real Madrid. We took the game in the second half and tried to attack too quickly. It happens because they are an exceptional team.” "It happens many times this season. Bad decisions, that's all. I take it. It's not about you and me; it's everyone," the Man City manager told Amazon Prime.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola praised Ederson for his work in between the posts. Edersom didn’t get a single chance to rest as Real Madrid players constantly attacked. "Ederson was our best player tonight; they had many chances..".

Manchester City blew the lead against Real Madrid

In the 19th minute of the game, Erling Haaland broke the deadlock to give Manchester City the lead but later he got many chances but couldn’t convert them into goals. Until the 60th minute, Manchester City was the clear favourite to win the game but Kylian Mbappe netted the ball into the goalpost to level the game. Manchester City got back the lead in the 80th minute as Erling Haaland scored a penalty that couldn’t last long as Brahim Diaz gave Real Madrid an equaliser. 

The game went into injury time as Jude Bellingham scored a goal to give Real Madrid a lead in the first leg of the playoff stage. Both teams again meet on Feb 20 for the second leg at Santiago Bernabeu. Having a goal advantage, Real Madrid will get into the Round of 16.