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Erling Haaland & Kevin de Bruyne 'could not continue', says Pep Guardiola

By Simon StoneBBC Sport chief football news reporter at Etihad Stadium

Last updated on .From the section Man Citycomments533

Pep Guardiola reacts to Manchester City's defeat by Real Madrid
For the first time in Champions League history, multiple English sides were eliminated from the knockout stages on the same day after Manchester City and Arsenal lost

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says top goalscorer Erling Haaland and playmaker Kevin de Bruyne both asked to come off before his side were knocked out in the Champions League quarter-finals by Real Madrid on penalties.

Both would probably have taken spot-kicks if they had still been on the pitch, with City eventually going down 4-3 in the shootout after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate.

Defender Manuel Akanji was the third player who needed replacing as a legacy of their recent injuries.

"They asked me to go out," said Guardiola. "They could not continue."

Haaland was replaced by Julian Alvarez, who scored his penalty, at the end of 90 minutes while De Bruyne, who netted City's opening goal, came off in the second half of extra time.

The Belgian made way for Mateo Kovacic, whose effort was saved by Real goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.

The City boss offered no criticism of Kovacic or Bernardo Silva, who asked to take a penalty but sent a poor attempt straight at Lunin.

"Bernardo is a reliable player," he said. "He wanted to take it. He decided to shoot in that way. It is what it is."

City had 67% possession at the Etihad Stadium, 33 shots to eight and nine on target to Real Madrid's three.

But it counted for nothing as City's defence of the trophy they won so thrillingly against Inter Milan last June came to an end, at the same time as their hopes of an historic double Treble.

"Johan Cruyff said luck doesn't exist, I agree with him," said Guardiola.

"Losing like this hurts. We feel bad but we did everything. We have no regrets about what we have done."

City have little time to pick themselves up given the face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday.

Guardiola knows this defeat will sting, even though Real are the tournament heavyweights and will now be favoured to go on and lift the trophy for a record 15th time at Wembley in June.

"We played exceptional in all departments but unfortunately we did not win," he said.

"You hope to create more and concede less because it helps you to win but we didn't convert the chances we had.

"To beat Real Madrid you have to be at your best. We were at our best but it was not enough."

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533 comments

  • Comment posted by SchizoCockney, at 01:26 18 Apr

    Guardiola and Man City have gone too far down the road of possession and passing the ball in to the back of the net. Their general play is so slow with literally hundreds of pointless passes to the next player who is only a few meters away, it gives teams time to get back, reform and congest the penalty box. City used to be entertaining for the neutral, now they bore the life out of me.

    • Reply posted by Jonesey, at 01:56 18 Apr

      Jonesey replied:
      The teams featuring Kompany, David Silva and Aguero were so much better to watch

  • Comment posted by Sense at last, at 03:15 18 Apr

    De Bruyne I can totally understand ... But is Haaland beginning to burn out already at just 23 yrs old ???

    • Reply posted by The Spin Doctor, at 05:18 18 Apr

      The Spin Doctor replied:
      Could he have peaked? Possible, just ask Michael Owen.

  • Comment posted by Egg was aligned with your face, at 06:27 18 Apr

    Wait… Haaland was playing???

    • Reply posted by Vlora, at 06:35 18 Apr

      Vlora replied:
      🤣🤣🤣

  • Comment posted by joey707, at 01:39 18 Apr

    Really, two players asked to come off?
    Not quite Bert Trautmann style, is it?

    • Reply posted by The Spin Doctor, at 05:21 18 Apr

      The Spin Doctor replied:
      This is called 'doing a Bruno Fernandes' these days, I believe.

  • Comment posted by User0639987599, at 01:48 18 Apr

    Biggest game of the season and you ask to come off?! Wild.

    • Reply posted by gwinders, at 07:08 18 Apr

      gwinders replied:
      Some players are prepared to be THE player for their team when times are tough. Rodri is maybe that guy for City. These 2 guys play most games but they aren't the player that will win their teams the World Cup/UCL. Many of these top top players lack the grit and the steel to own the fact that they are the one who can turn it around. When you're at City you can hide.

  • Comment posted by marble, at 05:07 18 Apr

    Losing to Real is nothing to be ashamed of. They are serial winners. The game went to penalties so could have gone either way.

    • Reply posted by joecorrigansboots, at 07:09 18 Apr

      joecorrigansboots replied:
      Finally, a sensible comment

  • Comment posted by Barrykins, at 02:02 18 Apr

    No sympathy from anyone for the ghost club. Got where they are through cheating and buying their way to the top. Good riddance to them.

  • Comment posted by Space Unicorn of News, at 03:46 18 Apr

    Not sure I believe your two highest earning superstar players would ask to come off I such a big game because they are tired?
    Isn't the adrenaline of such an occasion supposed to outweigh any tiredness feelings.
    Seems like Peps putting the blame on his players to try and dodge any criticism of his judgement that might come his way.

    • Reply posted by Northern Andy in the South, at 07:45 18 Apr

      Northern Andy in the South replied:
      KDB has just come back from injury and hasn't lasted 90 minutes in any game for months and have you heard Haaland in interviews? If Pep lied about him wanting to come off we would all know about it because he would be telling everyone because he knows his ability means he's bigger than the politics of a club

  • Comment posted by James Walker, at 03:20 18 Apr

    Sadly, you are not liked in football. You are a rotten club with artificial fans.

    • Reply posted by SirBankUnited, at 03:56 18 Apr

      SirBankUnited replied:
      that’s not sad, it just is what it is =)

  • Comment posted by Alex, at 02:39 18 Apr

    In a game of such importance you need to be rolling in a extreme pain or bleeding to ask to be replaced.

    • Reply posted by RedTillTheEnd, at 02:48 18 Apr

      RedTillTheEnd replied:
      Not if you are a mercenary playing for a state-run vanity project.

  • Comment posted by Jack O, at 01:08 18 Apr

    What is it with current day players asking to be taken off? In the great teams of yesteryear no player would ever have asked to come off. Quite bizarre

    • Reply posted by Fr, at 02:07 18 Apr

      Fr replied:
      Did yesteryear play 60+ games a year at high intensity? No. ✋

  • Comment posted by mumndad, at 01:56 18 Apr

    Haalands off form continues. He looks lost.

    • Reply posted by John Turkey, at 06:50 18 Apr

      John Turkey replied:
      he is not a brilliant footballer, championship maybe

  • Comment posted by Moss, at 05:42 18 Apr

    Looking forward to Roy Keane's take on players asking to come off in the biggest game of the season.

    • Reply posted by mackers, at 07:16 18 Apr

      mackers replied:
      I would have jumped through burning hoops of excrement (dressed as a clown with massive shoes) on the sidelines in order to play that game and stay on the pitch, not only for the prestige but to remind me of how much money they put in my bank account, every month.

  • Comment posted by conradk, at 01:02 18 Apr

    Poor darlings, my heart bleeds for them…

    • Reply posted by michael 101, at 07:38 18 Apr

      michael 101 replied:
      I'm sure they are crying into their millions

  • Comment posted by nontribal, at 05:50 18 Apr

    Real played a bit like Arsenal did when they came to the Etihad. They didn’t attack much and were tight in defence. City were not as clinical in front of goal - Foden for example had a much better game in Madrid. Not suprised KdB needed to come off. As for Haaland he is not having the same impact and you sometimes feel he doesn’t suit Pep’s style of play.

    • Reply posted by NGOK, at 08:15 18 Apr

      NGOK replied:
      I think it's harsh on Haaland given his performance last night. I thought he had a decent game. The likes of Foden, Silva and Grealish are some of the best attacking players in tight spaces in the world but struggled to break down the 9 man defence.

  • Comment posted by No Nonsense GR, at 05:42 18 Apr

    For the money they get paid, Pep should've told them to man up.

    • Reply posted by Ed Lice, at 05:47 18 Apr

      Ed Lice replied:
      Heard Kevin de Bruyne chipped his nail & Erling Haaland had a hair out of place.

  • Comment posted by tellitlikeitis, at 01:58 18 Apr

    Haaland still has a lot to learn….

    • Reply posted by NGOK, at 08:14 18 Apr

      NGOK replied:
      I thought he had a decent game last night, tracking back and also a played a decent role as a target man. Fact of the matter is most teams are now playing a low block against City and if they're world class teams it nullifies attacking play.

  • Comment posted by johnnyboy, at 02:50 18 Apr

    City got their tactics wrong. Too much tippy-tappy stuff just outside the box but practically no shooting. Far too predictable & Madrid coped with it easily. It was crying out for Foden to come more central where he could have unleashed multiple shots from just outside the box with his left foot rocket launcher. He either scores or gets Madrid to come out more, opening space for City's forwards.

    • Reply posted by kerbrun, at 05:15 18 Apr

      kerbrun replied:
      Foden - Big time Charlie who believes he’s the best,

  • Comment posted by binkerballs, at 01:40 18 Apr

    The hype around football is hysterical. City lost; big deal! 🙄

    • Reply posted by JR, at 11:42 18 Apr

      JR replied:
      Yet you chose to comment.....amazing

  • Comment posted by Rosnovski, at 03:07 18 Apr

    Big difference between Luton Town and Real Madrid. City got 'found out', as did Arsenal and Liverpool against Atalanta. PL not all it's cracked up to be.

    • Reply posted by NGOK, at 09:20 18 Apr

      NGOK replied:
      The European and world Champions were found out on penalties by the most successful team in history. I prefer non-league but City and Liverpool arn't bad!

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