Pep Guardiola refused to be despondent even after watching helplessly as his Manchester City side lost 2-0 to Juventus in their UEFA Champions League clash in Turin on Wednesday night.
Guardiola’s side have now won only one of their last 10 matches across all competitions, losing a staggering seven, and languish in 22nd place in the 36-team Champions League table, only three places out of automatic elimination from the competition with two games remaining.
“We played good, really really good,” Guardiola told reporters after the defeat. “So we missed the last pass, the last action, of course, some transitions happen, but I’m so proud of these players, they give everything and they tried, and now we live in this period, and hopefully we can change and get results.
“I know it’s difficult, it’s difficult in Champions League in Europe, but we play really good.”
City’s last two matches in the group phase are against Paris St Germain and Club Brugge.
With the competition’s new format, the top eight teams after eight rounds of the league phase advance into the round of 16 and avoid a playoff, which is now almost out of reach for Guardiola’s team.
“We have two games. We need one point maybe, one victory, the last one is at home, and the situation is because the game against Feyenoord (when City gave up a 3-0 lead to draw 3-3) and especially Inter Milan (a 0-0 draw),” the Spaniard said.
“But our three games away were really, really, really tough and you have to accept it. And when we turn around, we don’t forget that period, we appreciate more what we have done in the past, what they are going to in the future.”
City host local rivals Manchester United in the English Premier League on Sunday.
