Pep Guardiola has admitted he does not know if he will ever be able to lead Manchester City to Champions League glory.
City blew their chance to reach the final after collapsing against Real Madrid, conceding twice in 91 seconds and in extra-time, to lose 3-1 in the Bernabeu and go out. Guardiola, 51, who won the Champions League twice as Barcelona coach, but failed to do so with Bayern Munich, questioned if he is good enough to do so with City.
Asked if the current City side has what it takes to win the Champions League, Guardiola said: “I don't know. It's a question I cannot answer. Football is incredibly unpredictable. We saw it on Wednesday. We want to do it, to win the Champions League.
“But maybe I'm not good enough to help the team to do it. Nobody knows what would have happened with other players or managers. We were close, but not close enough, because the team who wins deserves it, so Madrid are in the final because they deserve it. We were close, but not close enough.”
Guardiola revealed his players were so down in the immediate aftermath of their agonising exit in Madrid, he could not bring himself to speak to them. “Of course we're sad,” said Guardiola. “We didn't talk, because everyone was sad that we couldn't do it.
"No words can help what we feel. It’s a question of time, try to sleep and think of the targets ahead. Tomorrow we will talk about what we've done, what happened in the two games and how well we have done.
“The players wanted to play in the final of the Champions League, but for this club to compete against Real Madrid the way we did is a joy. We had to go there and we were good, but not good enough, because I give a lot of credit to what the other team did.”
Despite questioning his own credentials, he disputed the fact that his players had any sort of "mentaility" issue and instead bemoaned the fine margins on the night, including Jack Grealish's pair of gilt-edged chances before Madrid's first goal.
He added: “There is no time for mental, they scored 45 seconds later. There's no time to settle down. That's why all the analysis, how do you control that? The emotion of the players, tell me how they feel that in that moment. We don't think they want to lose, they want to accept the crowd, score the second one. It's football. It happens.
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“We have to accept it, we tell them they have to score goals all the time. Now people say lack of character. Lack of character? What happens if Jack Grealish scores the two goals? Where is the character in Atletico when Ederson saves from Correa. That's character but if he scores it's no character.
“When Courtois saves with his feet and goes to the corner, that is no character? Same for ex-football players. Margins are this, we have to handle it, maybe we have more time after the kick off, know exactly when to go long ball from Eddy. You play with emotions, you have to control emotions. In that moment emotions favour Real Madrid.”
