Stop trying to be perfect and become champions instead

Social networks were burning on Wednesday late at night in the aftermath of that larger-than-life Real Madrid's comeback against Manchester City. And while those Royal's supporters and admirers of Benzema and Ancelotti were worshipping their heroes, plenty of comments were brutally addressed to City's gaffer Pep Guardiola.

'Fraudiola' and a similar range of offences were fired in the direction of the Spanish tactician, who suffered his fourth UCL elimination with the Etihad outfit.

Real couldn't come back from a goal down, so they came back from TWO goals down! Los Blancos make the final!

What's even more bizarre and disappointing, three of those failures saw City being swept off in the 1/4 finals. And moreover, from the sides that can not be labelled as 'creme della creme' of European football - Monaco, Lyon and Tottenham, respectively. The only time City made it through to the finals was in the previous season when Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea topped them on penalties. Too small, too little for a club of such ambitions that can not accept such shortcomings, especially considering the amount of money poured into the project.

Of course, it would be foolishly even to think, let alone say it out loud, that Pep is a fraud. The guy has turned Man City into a superpower, previously winning numerous titles with Bayern Munich and his Barcelona. Along with collecting silverware, Guardiola revolutionized the game, making an entire movement out of possession-based football. He showed us you could easily play it without a genuine striker, imploying centre-backs in the offensive roles, hiding the ball from opponents for two-thirds of the match. And much, much more. Some City players, like De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva or Foden, flourished under Pep's guidance, with many more also thriving and making some impressive displays.

SurREAL: Two goals down in injury time, 178 minutes behind and still in the UCL final! The Royals are out of this world

It paid off, especially in the Premier League, where City are on the verge of winning the second title in a row and fourth in the last five seasons. Those long-distance races are obviously ideally suited for the Citizens since they allow them a couple of bad days in the office without causing much damage.

A bunch of first-class team players and an impressively-balanced squad are all one coach can ask for. But for the EPL, not for the UCL. And that's the ground where all City's flaws become visible and, subsequently, tarnish their highest ambitions. In a fierce competition such as Champions League, where a double-legged knockout format forbids you to make almost any mistakes, it's unacceptable to have a terrible day, or even lousy half, or - just take into account City's dreadful experience last night - even disastrous stoppage time.

Despite defeating Atletico Madrid in the previous round, they seemed on the verge of cracking at Wanda Metropolitano as Cholo's gang was pushing them next to the wall. Somehow City survived that time in the Spanish capital, but there's a subtle difference between the two Madrid sides, and they learned that lesson the hard way.

Conceding one is, of course, not a catastrophe, but two goals in less than three minutes (and the third soon after the beginning of the extra-time) are shameful for the club of City's ilk and status.

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That's the first part of the puzzle, as stats show Guardiola's sides tend to break up into pieces under pressure. And they do it extremely fast. Of Pep's 11 Champions League eliminations, eight have seen decisive periods that were sudden collapses of goals conceded:

* 2010 - two goals in 13 minutes;

* 2014 - three in 18;

* 2015 - three in 17;

* 2017 - two in 8;

* 2018- three in 19;

* 2019- two in 3;

* 2020- two in 8;

* 2022- three in 6;

Huh, pretty awful indeed. But there's more. What keeps the wheels turning in the case of the Etihad outfit - a vast number of equally gifted players - has to be one of the main cons of Guardiola's approach at the same time. Because every time Real Madrid go down, they know who to rely on in those difficult moments - Modric and/or Benzema. The leaders, the ones with a superstrong personality, can change the entire tie's momentum singlehandedly. That was the case when the Royals confronted PSG, Chelsea and City. There was always someone to pull them up from the abyss. And City haven't got a single player capable of that. Zero, nadie, nichts, Grealish.

Once that perfect machine transformed into a defective one, there was no one in the sight to calm things a bit, inject necessary confidence in a low-spirited squad and stabilize them. And that's not (only) Pep's job - he needs someone of those credentials there, on the pitch. When it gets nasty.

THU: 22.00: (2.09) OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE (3.50) FEYEENORD (3.60)

It would be ridiculously obscene for us to talk about football like we know it better than Guardiola himself, who is the mastermind of the game, but the Real Madrid tie vivisected his team and its flaws. Under the Bernabeu floodlights, it became perfectly clear the defeaters don't need a different coach or some out-of-this-world striker. All they need is to stop trying to be perfect and become champions instead.