A Man City fan slams his side’s ‘spineless’ performance and Pep Guardiola gets mocked with chants by Real Madrid fans.
Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring inside four minutes for Real Madrid, adding his second before half-time; Mbappe completed then his hat-trick with a low finish in the second half; Nico Gonzalez scored a late consolation for Man City, who have been dumped out of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola is a manager that has been a thorn in Real Madrid’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu in years gone by, so of course, he was and is undoubtedly at the top of the list as one of the most disliked figures in the Spanish capital.
It seems Madrid fans are enjoying Man City’s downfall, with chants ringing around the stadium in clear mockery, urging “Guardiola stay! Guardiola stay! Guardiola stay!”.
Marca, reports that with the scoreline at 2-0, Madrid fans also sang: ‘Oh, Guardiola, you look so thin. First it was the drugs. Today you can see it in Chueca.’
Chueca is a district in Madrid, known as the heart of gay culture in the city, but the word could also have a double meaning, as it can be slang for describing someone as ‘crooked’. Marca have alleged the ‘reprehensible’ chant had homophobic undertones.
“Guardiola, quédate”, canta el Bernabéu al técnico del City #UCL
📹 @jdelriomuradas pic.twitter.com/UbRXGwurKQ— MARCA (@marca) February 19, 2025
Real Madrid have knocked Pep Guardiola out of the Champions League FOUR times. pic.twitter.com/ummpuFUT2T
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) February 19, 2025
This fan posted via the @mcfc_lads Twitter account saying: “Spineless. Full time, we’ve been absolutely destroyed, battered, whatever you wanna call it, by Real Madrid.
“You know it’s a woeful performance when we’ve not even been locked in by the police. Normally, we’re in the in the ground like an hour after the game. We’ve not even been locked in.
“Half the half the away ends rightfully left. I can’t blame them. I was there just about to full time, saw the Nico goal, but what an absolutely spineless performance that is. There was nothing there.
“I think the players can only apologise to all the fans that have made the trip out here. It’s not cheap. People gotta get time off work and that was an embarrassing embarrassing display.
“Look, we’re amongst all the Real fans already. Wild. Absolutely wild. Absolutely terrible.
“Worst performance of the season. We didn’t even show anything. No spine, no grit, nothing in that game. And we rightfully have been eliminated from the Champions League. It’s what it is. Embarrassing. Absolutely embarrassing.”
Spineless. pic.twitter.com/zkPVUSxzoR
— mcfc lads (@mcfc_lads) February 19, 2025
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola speaking to TNT Sports: “After we conceded the goal in the first action we didn’t defend well, it was more and more difficult. We have to accept it, the best team won so congratulations to Real Madrid. Now we focus on the Premier League.
“It’s a fantastic team, they deserve to go through. We didn’t deserve it, it’s the first year we didn’t make a good Champions League season. We have to accept it and fight for next season to be here again.
“Of course Real Madrid are contenders to win the Champions League now, but there are other good teams around.
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti speaking to TNT Sports: “Our goal was to be good defensively. We were compact. We have a lot of quality up front but we were not always able to defend our box. In these two games we have been able to do this. When you have that foundation you are able to build out from it.
“You never know in football. Every little detail can change the dynamic of a game. We were able to control the game well and scored the second and the third goals but we were always defending well.
“It takes time to defend in a low block and the players understood that. They understood that they had to work collectively in defence.”
On Kylian Mbappe: “Fantastic player. We have a lot of quality up front and when we are able to connect him with Rodrygo, Bellingham and Vinicius we are really, really dangerous – that happened in these two games. He [Mbappe] had a lot of opportunities in these two games against a really good team, City are still a really good team, and we looked very dangerous.”
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe speaking to Uefa.com: “A perfect night for the team. We wanted to win. We wanted to qualify for the next round. For us it was only logical that Real Madrid reached the next round of the Champions League.
“When you play against Manchester City it is always a difficult game but we knew that at home we would be very strong. We played better as a group and we were able to give a lot of joy to the fans. We have to continue in this way if we are to win what we want to win this season.
“I want to play well here, I want to make a mark on the season. I want to write history with Real Madrid. The adaptation period for me has ended and now I have to show my quality.”
On playing Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the next round: “The reality is that they are both very good teams. Whether we play Atleti or Leverkusen it will be difficult. But for me it is better to play Atletico because then we don’t have to travel! We have to travel a lot already. Both games would be difficult but it would be less so without having to travel.”
Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham speaking to TNT Sports: “It was a good evening and a good performance from us. It was a really enjoyable game to play in. The most important thing for us was the defensive side of the game. We knew that once we boxed that off we could attack with more freedom and that was the key tonight and in the other game.
“They [Man City] have had some injuries and we are also on the back end of that and welcoming some of the lads back. He is important for us in terms of the leadership in the dressing room, having that loud presence before the game, particularly for us younger players. When we are at full strength we are a much better team.
“You always want to play teams at their best and when you see he [Erling Haaland] is not in the team you obviously hope it is nothing serious. He is a good mate of mine and I hope it is not too bad. You play against what you are up against and I thought we managed it well today. They still have other players that can step in and cause damage.”
Bellingham speaking to TNT Sports about team-mate Kylian Mbappe: “It is brilliant playing with him. You go into games knowing you can give him the ball and he is going to affect things. Our jobs behind him and the rest of the front three is to try and get them into the best positions possible and I myself try and get in the box too.
“You know when Kylian gets the ball in the areas he likes on the pitch he is going to be dangerous. Left foot or right foot. He scored a few different types of goals today.
“It is incredible what he has done in his career. I know he had a slow start here and took time getting used to life here. Now he is flying and it’s so good to see.”
Twitter users reacted as a Man City fan slams ‘spineless’ performance and Pep Guardiola gets mocked by Real Madrid fans…
@RFletcherWWFC: Welcome to being a normal fan of a football club. It’s not embarrassing to lose 3-1 at Madrid when you’re the club the size of City. City fans under the age of 20 are just spoilt as they’ve only experienced the oil years
@CraigTrudgill: Embarrassing? Demanding player apologies? Losing 3-1 away to the holders and multiple champions league winners is hardly losing 6-0 away to wolves or anything. So entitled! One bad season in how many? Grow up
@Brotonswfc: Haha. Bet city older lot just laugh at this and enjoy the moments..wasn’t so long back you was playing oldham
@StPaul197173: Carnt be top dogs forever
@LiamRumsey64: His opinion in this instance might be spot on, but it’s probably reality hitting. Rough with the smooth and city have had an incredible time these last few years.]
@ChrisMcKnight4: He’s too young to remember City from 30 years ago. Even after a performance like that, playing Real Madrid away is still like a dream. Enjoy it kid while it lasts
@UnitedFansMUFC: How fast do football fans become entitled these days. You’re playing Real Madrid, the biggest club in the world & ppl are leaving early. Remember how fast things have changed at your club & where you were not that long ago in the past!
@Hesselhoffer: This guy been the face of our worst season in forever. Stop going to games man.
@LiamAllard: As a City fan this year has obviously been a hard watch, but you can’t play well and win every year. 99 percent of fans in the country would take our last ten years. You have to accept the rough with the smooth and it’s really not that rough when you look at United or Spurs!
@Lawrenc52859337: Which is why I stopped going to professional football in 2009. The clubs are ripping the fans off and have been since the start of the Premier League which is used as a vehicle to earn money by the FA as are their coaching courses
@JamieHoskins15: He’s spot on but fuck me, what is he 20/21? All he’s known is trophies and winning/battering opposition each week. Try being a Rochdale, Bury, Stockport fan lad! Assuming you’re from that way. Don’t think the players owe you an apology after what they’ve given you the last decade
@jw_wba: Find the constant demanding of apologies from players for losing away games really weird these days, purely because you’ve travelled to watch them. You buy a ticket to a match knowing full well there is a chance your team will lose, the players owe you nothing. Grow up
You must be logged in to post a comment Login