Man City boss Pep recalls shock Lyon loss on eve of Porto clash

Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola admitted on Tuesday that he still feels responsible for Manchester City's Champions League exit last season, saying they have to close these gaps as they chase European glory. City, who host Porto in their opening group match tonight, have never gone beyond the semi-finals of the competition. Memories of the quarter-final loss to Lyon in August remain fresh for Guardiola, who won the competition for the second time as Barcelona boss in 2011 but has failed to lift the trophy since.

"It was a tough moment," Guardiola said. "I felt so responsible for how the club felt, the players. I was not able to drive the club and I feel responsible. But watching the games we have to accept the reality that we were not good enough. We did not play bad, we played some real good moments but we sometimes made mistakes and in this competition you cannot do it."

Guardiola said City were not far away from cracking the secret of European success. "I always had the feeling we were close. The gaps were little but you have to close it. Now is a new opportunity and we are going to start at zero again," he said.

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever