Manager, Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are still a work in progress and need time to return to their dominant best following their latest UEFA Champions League exit to Real Madrid.
City were eliminated for the third consecutive season by the Spanish giants after a 2-1 defeat on Tuesday, with Vinicius Junior scoring twice against a 10-man City side. Captain Bernardo Silva was sent off early in the match after handling a goal-bound effort.
Much of the damage had already been done in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, where Federico Valverde netted a hat-trick to give Madrid a commanding advantage.
Guardiola admitted the red card limited his side’s ability to truly test the 15-time European champions, although he noted the tie was more competitive than last season’s heavy aggregate defeat.
City are currently undergoing a major rebuild, with Silva among the few remaining core players from the squad that won four consecutive Premier League titles between 2021 and 2024.
“Still we are not complete. There are moments where we need to be more clinical, but my feeling is it will be a question of time,” Guardiola said.
“We are not a complete team, that is a reality. I’ve been in a team at Manchester City where we were complete in all aspects. Still we are not, but we have a final on Sunday, and important games ahead.”
City have a chance to respond quickly as they face Arsenal in the League Cup final. However, they trail the Gunners by nine points in the Premier League title race and will also take on Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals next month.
Despite winning the Champions League in the 2022/23 season, Guardiola acknowledged that just one European title in a decade remains a slight blemish on his record.
He added that he wants City to eventually reach the standards set by Real Madrid, where anything less than Champions League success is considered failure.
“I would love this club to be like Madrid, where if you don’t win the Champions League, it is a failure. That is pressure,” he said.
“At City, it is not yet the expectation. In time, maybe we will get there.”
