Sport
Guardiola Says Madrid Deserved Win as Man City Exit Champions League
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted that Real Madrid’s early goal set the tone for their 3-1 Champions League defeat on Wednesday night.
Los Blancos entered the second leg with a narrow 3-2 lead, and within five minutes at the Bernabeu, Kylian Mbappe struck first, lifting the ball over Ederson.
Mbappe went on to score a stunning hat-trick before Nico Gonzalez pulled one back for City, but it wasn’t enough. Madrid sealed their place in the last 16 with a 6-3 aggregate victory.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Guardiola acknowledged that his team struggled after conceding so early. “We didn’t defend well, and from that point, it became more difficult,” he said.
He congratulated Real Madrid, admitting they deserved to go through. “It’s the first year we haven’t had a strong Champions League run. We have to accept it and fight to be here again next season.”
Guardiola also named Madrid as strong contenders for the title but noted that other top teams are still in the race. For now, City will shift their focus back to the Premier League.
Super Eagles defender Calvin Bassey has opened up about a difficult period in his career, revealing that he almost stepped away from football.
Speaking during a recent interview, Bassey shared that he once made a personal promise to himself to quit pursuing football professionally if he failed to secure a spot at a professional club.
“I remember being 15 and going into my final year, and I told myself that if I didn’t get into a professional club, I would quit football. It was that simple,” he said.
“I would just stop pursuing it seriously and only play for fun. Thank God I eventually got a club, because I honestly don’t know where I would be otherwise.”
It has been reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) fined Egypt $5,000 following their clash with Zimbabwe for failing to manage post-match media obligations.
It was noted that after the match, the Egyptian players ignored the media. This action was said to be a violation of CAF’s media regulations, which led to the fine being imposed.
Head of the Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, shared that the big-name players on the team are not happy about being benched.
He recalled when he took out Samuel Chukwueze during the match against Tanzania.
“Yes, of course, we’ve in this team a lot of big names. They are competitors; they aren’t happy when they go to the bench,” Chelle said at his post-match interview.”
“My job is to make choices, and we’re playing a 4-4-2 diamond, and at this moment I feel we have to protect the wing.”
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