Manager denies claims Real Madrid are “biggest challenge” of his City career and says club must reflect on how far they’ve come
Pep Guardiola does not wish to see his constant defeats in the Champions League at the hands of Real Madrid as anything more than mere defeats.
The Manchester City manager has already rejected suggestions that the Spanish giants are his boogey team, insisting instead that his toughest challenge as head coach at the Etihad has been from Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
City were knocked out of the Champions League last-16 after a heavy 5-1 aggregate defeat to Madrid. A 3-0 first-leg loss at the Santiago Bernabeu left Guardiola’s side with too much to do, and despite a spirited effort with 10 men in Manchester a week later, a 2-1 defeat confirmed their elimination.
It is the third consecutive season that Madrid have ended City’s European ambitions, following eliminations in 2024 and 2025. City also lost against them in 2022, the season before the treble year, which is also the only year Guardiola has managed to succeed in Europe as City boss.
But the City manager defended his record in Europe with the club by saying they had only recently risen to join the continent’s elite and did not have the same pedigree in the competition as the likes of Madrid.
“It’s been a good learning experience for the club, because this is a club that 12 or 13 years ago was never in Europe,” Guardiola said. “Playing so many times against Real Madrid, with the generation we’ve had, we’ve done it.
“They’ve won, we’ve won. The numbers are similar, they’ve knocked us out more than we have them, but they know how we’ve played.”
