Manchester City suffered a disheartening 4-3 loss against Al-Hilal in the Round of 16 of the Club World Cup on June 30 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
This defeat against the Saudi Pro League side led to Man City’s elimination from this year’s Club World Cup.
Speaking after the clash, Pep Guardiola discussed what Man City plans to do for the remainder of the summer.
The Catalan manager stated (comments via ESPN) that even though he and his squad would have ‘loved’ to advance further in the competition, it is now their ‘time to rest’ for the upcoming campaign.
“We would have loved to have continued. [You are] only here once every four years. We had a feeling that the team is doing well, but we go home and now it’s time to rest and rest our minds for the new season,” said Guardiola.
“The vibe was really good. I cannot thank Manchester City enough and especially the players for training and how they have been playing. The margins are minimal,” he added.
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Guardiola further spoke about what Man City should have done to help their odds against Al-Hilal.
What, according to Pep Guardiola, did Man City lack against Al-Hilal?
Guardiola mentioned that while his squad created chances to bag a win against Al-Hilal, Man City fell short in the end. He also pointed out that ‘good things’ in his team, while mentioning how happy they were at the Club World Cup.
“In the end we have to score and be clinical. They did not create much in the first half, we did but could not finish it. I had a feeling we could go through. We allow them to make transitions [but] we created a lot,” he said.
“So many good things I did not see in the past. The relationship between the players, our captain [Bernardo Silva] helped a lot and the standards with staff. I felt we were happy here, the training sessions have been really good but the level of this competition is the World Cup,” Guardiola concluded.
With their journey coming to an end at the Club World Cup, Man City will be looking forward to their first Premier League match of the 2025/26 season, which is against Wolverhampton Wanderers, on August 16 at Molineux.
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