"That is ridiculous" – Pep Guardiola makes bold statement after Manchester City lose to Real Madrid

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed he is to blame for his side's below-par performance in the recent 3-2 UEFA Champions League loss against La Liga champions Real Madrid.

Earlier this Tuesday (February 11), the Cityzens slumped to their 12th loss across competitions this campaign. Erling Haaland opened the scoring in the 19th minute before Kylian Mbappe's equaliser at the hour mark. Haaland scored a penalty in the 80th minute to hand the hosts a 2-1 lead. Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham each netted one goal in the final moments of the tie.

Following Manchester City's Champions League play-off first leg loss at home to Real Madrid, Guardiola was asked to opine on his team's failings. He responded (h/t X/@cityreport_):

"In this moment, I am not able [to fix things]! I said months ago, I am not good enough to give something, composure to the team in how to manage these kinds of situations! It happened many times. This is the truth."

Opining more on the recent 3-2 loss, the Manchester City boss added:

"Players have to take accountability? It belongs to all of us, not just the players! For me, it would be easy to blame one specific player or blame whatever... that is ridiculous! It doesn't work, it's all of us! Me first."

Jude Bellingham claims Real Madrid deserved to beat Manchester City 3-2 at Etihad Stadium

After the end of his team's recent continental game, Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham asserted that Carlo Ancelotti's side were better than Manchester City. He said (h/t Hayters):

"It was a weird one. We played some of our best football of the season and ended up behind. I think we were playing well and creating a lot. We were always confident throughout the game that something would drop for us. I don't care what form City are in, they are still an unbelievable team. It’s always tricky to play against them and we finally took the chance at the end."

Bellingham, who netted the crucial goal in the injury time, continued:

"It's always good to take a lead back home and I'm sure the Bernabeu will come through for us. It seems like there are ups and downs in these knockout games. It's not just game management, it's tactical and it's physiological as well. I just kept running on the off chance that [Vinicius Jr] might put it wide, it's rare he does that but it happened. Our performance deserved the win."

Real Madrid recorded 20 shots with eight of them hitting on target in the contest against the Cityzens, who registered a mere 11 shots on Tuesday.

Bellingham, on the other hand, has contributed 11 goals and 10 assists in 32 games across all competitions for Real Madrid so far this campaign.