‘Head in hands, frustrated’ Pep relives ‘Son Heung-min nightmare’ from five years ago
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (53) must have had a nightmare five years ago.
On April 18, Sky Sports posted a photo on its official social media. The photo shows Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola kneeling in frustration.
However, there were two Guardiola’s in the photo. One from April 18, 2019, and one from April 18, 2024. Guardiola is frustrated in the exact same position.
Manchester City were defeated by Real Madrid in the second leg of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, on June 18.
It was a tense encounter between the reigning Premier League champions and the La Liga leaders. City battled hard but fell to Real 3-4 on penalties.
City dominated the game with 67% possession. Their Expected Goals (xG) value was 2.74. Real had a value of 1.44. The first goal belonged to Real. Hodriguez opened the scoring in the 12th minute of the first half. City equalized in the 31st minute with a goal from Kevin De Bruyne, sending the match into extra time.
The tension seemed to be maintained in the penalty shootout. Julian Alvarez, the first kicker, made no mistake. Real’s first kicker, Luka Modric, missed. However, Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic then missed in quick succession and Real advanced to the last four.
Guardiola fell to his knees after the game, clutching his head in frustration. City and Guardiola were looking for a second straight Champions League triumph after a terrifying treble last season, but their run came to a halt in the quarterfinals.
“Another title challenge halted in the quarter-finals,” said Sky Sports. Exactly as it was five years ago.”
Rewind the clock back five years. On April 18, 2019, City faced Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium in the second leg of the quarterfinals. In the first leg, City were 0-1 down after conceding a goal to Son Heung-min.
City came out fired up for the second leg, but Tottenham had ‘Sonny’. Raheem Sterling gave City the lead in the fourth minute of the first leg, but Son Heung-min 먹튀검증 equalized in the seventh minute of the first leg and rattled the net again in the 10th minute to give the Spurs a scare.
Goals from Sterling, Silva, and Sergio Aguero gave City a 4-3 victory, but Tottenham (4-4) advanced to the last four on away goals in the first leg.
Sterling scored a dramatic extra-time winner in stoppage time, but it was disallowed by video assistant referee (VAR), leaving Guardiola on the ground in shock.
The ‘Son Heung-min nightmare’ is back, and Guardiola said after the game: “I wanted to win, but congratulations to Real. We gave our best and the players were outstanding. Unfortunately, we didn’t win. This is the reality,” he said.
He added: “Football is a sport that speaks with goals. In the penalty shootout, Real were better. The smallest differences made the difference,” he added.