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Pep Guardiola reacts after Man City are dumped out of the FIFA Club World Cup by Al-Hilal

Pep Guardiola reacts after Man City are dumped out of the FIFA Club World Cup by Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal.

He expressed disappointment after his side fell to a shock 4-3 defeat, but also praised his team’s efforts despite the defeat.

Pep highlighted their good form and new signings but noted their vulnerability in transitions and failure to be clinical, with Al-Hilal’s goalkeeper Yassine Bounou making key saves.

Guardiola said the team would now rest and prepare for the new season. Bernardo Silva echoed the sentiment, citing a lack of concentration and organisation in transitions as critical, despite City creating numerous chances.

Al-Hilal’s coach Simone Inzaghi credited his players’ heart and effort, describing the win as climbing “Mount Everest without oxygen” against a formidable opponent. Al-Hilal’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic defiantly responded to critics, pointing to their strong performances against top teams.

Man City manager Pep Guardiola praised his players, who had looked set to go deep in the competition after regrouping with some key new signings following the end of a difficult Premier League campaign.

However, he said they would now “rest minds” before regrouping for the new season, which is just over six weeks away.

“It is a pity,” he said about the defeat to Al-Hilal. “We have been on an incredible journey together and were in a good place. The vibe was really good.

“I cannot thank the players enough for training and playing how they have been.

“But it was a difficult game. The margins were minimal. We created a lot and (Yassine) Bounou made incredible saves but we were so open.

“We would have loved to have continued, it will only be once every four years, and we had a feeling that the team was doing well.

“But we go home and now it is time to rest and rest our minds for the new season.

“We regret a little bit that we allowed them to run a bit more. They defended so deep, the wingers were so quick and Bounou made a lot of saves.

“In the end, we have to score and be clinical. They arrived more in the transitions. They did not create much in the first half – we did but could not finish it.

“I had a feeling we could go through but they punished us on the transitions.”

Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva: “What lacked was from our side; a bit more concentration, a bit more organisation when we lost the ball to control, especially the transitions.

“The ball we had again, the chances we had again. After all, we scored three and could’ve scored five, six.

“It was all about controlling when we lost the ball, controlling the transitions, don’t let them run, and they ran away too many times. With one, two passes, there was always a feeling of danger coming from them.

“When we allow teams to run like this we always suffer a lot, and today was the case.

“A lot of disappointment because we wanted to do better, we wanted to go to the quarter-finals, we had a lot of ambition for this competition. But yeah, it’s football; they were good today.

“We didn’t control some situations that we should’ve done better, but overall congratulations to them. They’re a good team, very good individually, created us a lot of problems and they deserved [to win].”

Al Hilal head coach Simone Inzaghi: “The key to this result was the players, the heart they put on the pitch.

“We had to do something extraordinary because we knew how good Manchester City are, we knew we had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen, and we were great.

“Guardiola is the best coach in the world, but tonight we did our best and we deserved the result.”

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic said: “Let’s see if they criticise us now.

“Let’s see now if they will criticise us.

“We showed them it’s not like they are speaking about the league. We show against Real Madrid, Salzburg, Pachuca and tonight. I hope we will continue to show it.”

See more of the latest football news over at fanbanter.co.uk

Pep Guardiola reacts after Man City are dumped out of the FIFA Club World Cup by Al-Hilal, with there plenty of mocking on social media…

@witty_cruz: When an oil club meets a real oil club.

@CFCNewsReport: From beating Juventus 5-2 to losing to a Saudi club. Well done, guys

@Ammar_Kassim8: Camel league they said?

@kazuake645: Pep is speaking calmly but next season will be crucial for him, if it is as bad as this season he could actually be sacked.

@abzMCFC___:
refused to give us the exciting young players we’ve signed.
continued starting the old dogs that play against us every week.
still unable to actually coach the team.
pep guardiola, ladies and gentlemen. 👏👏👏

@GeorgePitt140: Another £300m spend incoming 😂😂😂

@jujupunter: Never insulting the Saudi league again

@TeacherOfBall: Absolutely done with football until this manager is gone. This is our most embarrassing defeat ever. It’s actually fucking disgusting and unacceptable. Gifted the easiest road to the final ever and blew it against NPCs. Fuck you Pep, fuck you Khaldoon, FUCK YOU EDERSON

@mcfckevin: This defeat is clearly on pep, any sane person can see through his stupid decisions today

@GoodKidManCity:
That’s on Pep
That’s on his sub patterns
That’s on the back line
Same shit from 24/25

@CFC_Janty: I never want to hear anyone disrespect Saudi League ever again

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