Pep Guardiola praised the outstanding contribution of two of his Manchester City players after their battling draw with Real Madrid. City fell behind to a wonderful Vinicius Jr goal in the first half but recovered thanks to a fine Kevin De Bruyne effort in the second half to leave their Champions League semi-final at 1-1 after the first leg. City will return to Manchester knowing that a positive result at home will get them through to a second final in three years. The Blues were seriously tested though, and struck back at Real when the home team were on top after the break. As much as Guardiola was happy with his goalscorer Kevin De Bruyne, he also praised two of his defensive unit for their part in securing the result.
Pep Guardiola said: “Kevin knows how important he is for us. He made an incredible performance for many reasons and I’m happy for him. In this type of game in this type of competition – semi-finals and finals – you need your best players. Ederson and Kyle Walker were exceptional. In general, everyone was really good. It was a really tight game. Congratulations to the team because this team is always so difficult [to play against] for their history but also their quality. We started really well and when we were better they made an incredible transition from [Eduardo] Camavinga and an incredible transition. And when they were better than us in the second half, we scored. It’s open to Manchester, it will be a final for our people and we look forward to it.”
