Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola, has said that they failed to qualify for the quarter-final of the Champions League, because the competition “is so demanding” and they were not lucky.
Guardiola failed to go beyond the round of 16 for the first time in his managerial career, after City were beaten 3-1 by Monaco on Wednesday night .
The Premier League side came into the second leg of the tie with a 5-3 lead, but struggled to cope with the intensity of the hosts.
Monaco finished the first half with a two-goal lead, thanks to Kylian Mbappe and Fabinho.
City came out fighting in the second half and pulled one back through Leroy Sane, after Raheem Sterling’s effort was parried onto his path.
However, Monaco swung the tie back in their favour, with Tiemoue Bakayoko rising highest to head home the crucial goal.
Speaking to BT Sport afterwards, the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona boss, said: “We played exceptional second half but we forgot to do that in the first. We wanted to defend aggressively. We were better in the second but it wasn’t enough.
“Normally we play to a good level but here we didn’t. We will learn. The team does not have a lot of experience.
“The second half we had the chances and we didn’t take them and that is why we are out.
“And set-pieces are so important at this level. Barcelona and Real Madrid scored from them last week.
“We were not there and we were not there in the first 45 minutes.
“We will improve but this competition is so demanding. Sometimes we have to be special and be lucky. We were not.”
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