"Football is unpredictable." That's how Pep Guardiola summed up Manchester City's heartbreaking elimination from the Champions League.
After Riyad Mahrez's second-half strike put City in a commanding 5-3 aggregate lead against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, Guardiola could only watch from his technical area as his players conspired to collapse in truly remarkable fashion. Two goals in the space of 89 seconds from Rodrygo hauled Europe's comeback specialists level, before a Karim Benzema penalty early in the first period of extra-time finished City off.
Despite his post-match analysis, Guardiola did everything he could to predict how Real Madrid would play, and set his team up in a way to give them the best possible chance of progression. In the end, something unprecedented happened: for the first in six seasons, Guardiola was entirely blameless for City's Champions League elimination.
