‘I have no regrets at all’: Guardiola praises his Manchester City players as English teams crash out of Champions League

Real Madrid advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating Manchester 4-3 on penalties at the City of Manchester Stadium on Thursday morning (AEDT).

Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive penalty after the match finished 1-1 in extra time and 4-4 on aggregate.

Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic had their penalties saved in the shootout as defending champions City were eliminated by 14-time winners Madrid.

Rodrygo put Madrid ahead in the 12th minute with a double shot from close range to beat City goalkeeper Ederson on the rebound.

City dominated the game from then on and Kevin De Bruyne equalized in the 76th with a shot high into the net from close range.

The match was tied 4-4 on aggregate after the first leg ended 3-3 in Madrid last week.

City immediately took the lead in the shootout after Julián Álvarez converted his initial penalty and Luka Modric’s effort was saved.

But Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin saved successive penalty shots from Silva and Kovacic to tip the balance in favor of the visitors.

The defeat ended City’s bid to become the first English team to win back-to-back Champions League titles and their quest for successive trebles. City continues to fight for the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

Madrid’s victory keeps the Spanish giant in the hunt for a record 15th European Cup. It also saw them advance to the semi-finals for the fourth year in a row, denying City the chance to emulate that feat.

But Madrid had to work hard to overcome Pep Guardiola’s team, which dominated most of the game without managing to add De Bruyne’s goal in the second half.

“I have to thank these players from the bottom of my heart for the way they played. But football is about winning and we didn’t do enough, but we were exceptional,” Guardiola said after the match.

“Sometimes you can win on penalties and other times you can’t. But in the game we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had, even though we defended very well. Everyone played at a high level. We said we had to give our best.” play against Real Madrid and they were.

“I would have preferred to have won, but congratulations to Real Madrid. We did everything possible, so I don’t regret anything we have done at all.

“I always say as a coach that it’s about scoring more and conceding less and we did everything. We played exceptionally but unfortunately we couldn’t win, so it is what it is.”

Arsenal ‘gutted’, eliminated and loses place in the Club World Cup

Bayern Munich could still cap a disappointing season with the Champions League title while Arsenal face the prospect of ending a promising season without a trophy.

A Joshua Kimmich header propelled Bayern to a 1-0 victory over Arsenal and reached the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-2 aggregate victory.

With the score at 2-2 in the first leg in London, a header from Kimmich following a precise cross from Raphael Guerreiro put Bayern ahead in the 63rd minute, when Bayern largely neutralized the English team’s attack.

Arsenal’s players were “gutted”, manager Mikel Arteta told broadcaster TNT Sports.

“I can’t find the right words to encourage them,” he said.

Bayern kept their hopes of finishing the season with a trophy alive three days after Bayer Leverkusen ended Bayern’s 11-year reign as German champions.

Striker Harry Kane, who spoke on Tuesday about being motivated by his departure from Arsenal as a youth player, takes another step towards what would be the first trophy of his career.

Thomas Tuchel said it meant “a lot” to beat Arsenal.

“The semi-finals are an important step, the last four were fun,” he said.

Bayern and Arsenal have met five times in the Champions League round of 16 since 2005 and the German team has eliminated Arsenal on each occasion.

Arsenal’s exit from the Champions League comes after a major blow to their Premier League title ambitions in a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Monday. The defeat also leaves Arsenal out of next year’s Club World Cup in the United States, in favor of Austrian team Salzburg.

Arsenal lamented the defensive errors that cost the team in the first leg.

“We gave them two goals, a big advantage to give away, and today you could see that the margin for error was zero, we made a mistake defending the goal and we conceded,” Arteta said.

“So it was difficult. We tried in many different ways, but it is difficult. It is time to be next to the players, give them support, because they are the ones who have taken us on this journey.”

AP