Guardiola Admits Manchester City Have ‘Not Much’ Chance After Real Madrid Defeat

• Manchester City lost 3-0 to Real Madrid in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg.
• Federico Valverde scored a first-half hat trick to put Madrid firmly in control of the tie.
• Pep Guardiola said City have “not much” chance but insisted his team will try to respond in the second leg.

Manchester City F.C. manager Pep Guardiola admitted his side face a difficult task to overturn their Champions League deficit after a 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid C.F. at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

Federico Valverde scored a 22-minute hat trick in the first half to leave City with a major challenge ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.

Guardiola acknowledged the scale of the task facing his team if they are to progress in the UEFA Champions League.

“Now, not much,” Guardiola said when asked about City’s chances of reaching the quarterfinals.

“Of course we’re going to try. We will read what to do better and be more active in the final third and we will try.”

City were handed a brief opportunity to reduce the deficit in the second half when Vinícius Júnior saw his penalty saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Before the match, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti suggested Guardiola might make unexpected changes to his starting lineup, and the City manager introduced several adjustments.

Jérémy Doku, Savinho and Abdukodir Khusanov were all named in the starting side. Guardiola also moved Nico O’Reilly from midfield to left-back.

The 20-year-old was involved in the opening goal after misjudging a long pass forward from Thibaut Courtois, which allowed Valverde to score.

Guardiola substituted Savinho at half-time with City trailing 3-0 and later defended his selection decisions.

“How many times has Nico O’Reilly played left-back this season? How many times?” Guardiola said.

“The only adjustment was Khusanov in that area because Vinícius arrives in those areas and you have to control that.

“I did rotation in Newcastle with 11 different players and it was fine, so understand what I’m saying.”

Guardiola said the tactical plan had been to stretch Real Madrid with wide players while creating space centrally for attackers to operate closer to goal. City must now attempt to overturn the deficit when the teams meet again in Manchester next week.

WRITTEN BY

Hailey

Hailey Russell is a football journalist and former Division 1 collegiate athlete in the United States, bringing a unique blend of elite playing experience and professional insight to her work. Currently competing at the professional level in Europe, Hailey combines first-hand knowledge of the modern game with sharp analysis across match reports, player development, and tactical breakdowns.

More articles by Hailey →