Beaten in the second leg by Real Madrid, Pep Guardiola has decided his future at the helm of Manchester City
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 08:00 / Updated Wednesday, March 18, 2026 08:00
Pep Guardiola (55), Manchester City's coach, spoke after another defeat of his team in front of Real Madrid in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Defeated and on returnhe does not think about leaving “citizens” and announces that he wants to get revenge next season.
In Tuesday night's match, City lost 1-2 at home after being outnumbered for over 70 minutes, and after 0-3 at the Bernabéu a week ago, they exited Europe's most prestigious inter-club competition, while their opponents progressed to the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid will play against Bayern Munich or Atalanta in the next phase of the competition. In the round, the Bavarians won 6-1 and leave with the first chance to qualify.
After the game, Guardiola drew his first conclusions from the elimination, having only words of praise for his students despite the 1-5 aggregate defeat.
Pep Guardiola: “We will definitely meet next year”
“It's a shame that we couldn't play the whole match on equal terms, especially considering that we scored. But that's what the referee decided, right? That's it. We have an exceptional team. Exceptional. That's how it was in the first 15 minutes today, just like at the Bernabéu. Congratulations, Real Madrid!”
A career is made up of good and bad results. We were eliminated from the Champions League, but the demands of this competition are very high. It's a shame that we didn't play 11 on 11 throughout the match,” said Guardiola, quoted by sportal.bg.
Then, the technician was also asked if he will have the strength for at least one more season at the helm of Manchester City and to face Real Madrid again. The two teams have met 7 times so far in the knockout stages of the Champions League, and the Spaniards have advanced 5 times, while the “citizens” have managed to do so in only two of the cases.
“Yes! And for sure we will face Real Madrid again”Guardiola replied confidently.
