Man City has proven Pep Guardiola's point of view correct
Coach Pep Guardiola shared at a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday that Man City is "in a transition period". And its easy to understand why.
Normally, in big matches at the Bernabeu, Guardiola has Ederson, Kyle Walker, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne in hand. Now all of them are no longer at the club.
Only three players who started in the 2023 Champions League final - Haaland, Silva and Ruben Dias - participated in the recent match against Real Madrid. This is a new team, and before the match Guardiola stressed that he wanted his players to prove that they could play well in big matches.
They responded with Man City's first away win at the Bernabeu since 2020.
O'Reilly, just 20, had an impressive performance at left-back in the direct confrontation with Rodrygo - who also played very well. Jeremy Doku (23 years old) continuously created a threat on the left wing and caused Valverde, who was pulled down to play as a right-back for Real Madrid, to face countless difficulties, especially in the second half.
Guardiola believes the Bernabeu is always a tough test for any team, and Man City have convincingly overcome that test.
Man City is still looking for stability in defense
There is no denying that Man City possesses impressive attacking power. They are leading the Premier League in goals with 35 goals and have scored 13 goals in just their last 4 matches in all competitions.
But their problem lies in the rest of the pitch.
Guardiola's side have kept just two clean sheets in their last 11 games. The recent draw with Sunderland when Man City experienced a few moments of turmoil at the beginning of the second half showed instability. In the top six, only Manchester United have conceded more goals than City have conceded.
They even got a penalty in the second minute - a VAR denial - after both Gvardiol and Silva made a clumsy return in the same situation. The way they let Rodrygo score was also a regrettable one. The move stemmed from Silva's loss to Carreras in a corner kick, allowing Real Madrid to deploy the ball machily from home to the top without any pressure from The Citizens' defense.
Man City deserved to be recognized for standing firm against the huge pressure of Real Madrid in the final minutes. However, Guardiola will certainly want to eliminate the sloppiness that was exposed in the first 30 minutes of the match - which could cost them more in other big matches.
"We have a long way to go. We're not ready yet. Next February, we will be better. We have been in this position in the past, played much better than today, and we lost. It's football.
The players have made an extraordinary effort, it was an extremely good result, the spirit is incredible, but we still have a lot to improve" - Guardiola said after the match.
