Every City player should be proud - Morrison | OneFootball

Former City defender Andy Morrison says every player should be proud of their performance after our Champions League exit against Real Madrid.

After a 3-3 draw in the quarter-final first leg in Spain, City drew 1-1 at the Etihad before losing out 4-3 in a penalty shootout.

Pep Guardiola’s side dominated the second leg with two thirds of possession and 33 efforts on goal but a winner eluded us on the night.

Morrison, who was pitchside at the Etihad for Matchday Live, praised the performance against the 14-times winners of the trophy.

“I thought the team were relentless all evening,” he said. “I thought they were brilliant.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go your way and you must give credit to the opposition and the way they defended. They got their tactics right, suffocated space and at the end of the day they were victorious.

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“It’s a cruel way to lose a game of football but I think Pep will be incredibly proud of his team and the way they played.

“The way they went about it – the City way. From 20 minutes on, we completely dominated the game.

“A couple of moments, a couple of opportunities that on another day could have gone our way, that’s football."

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With City top of the Premier League and an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea on Saturday at Wembley at 17:15 (UK), there is still plenty to play for this season.

Nedum Onuoha says that recovering from the disappointment of losing to Real is now crucial if we are to claim silverware this season.

“The manager will speak to the players and address this game but he knows the key thing now is recovery both mentally and physically,” the ex-City defender said on Matchday Live.

“They’ll be hugely disappointed for the game and the way that it’s gone but there’s a semi-final at Wembley in three days’ time.

“You’re playing against a side that you’ve not managed to beat so far this season, for them it’s another chance to get a step nearer to winning something.

“It’s very clear now how many games they’ve got left, who they’re against and all that stuff so they’ll be motivated for it, but the key thing is recovery.”

Women’s captain Steph Houghton said that City showed our quality despite the defeat and can take the confidence of knowing how well we are playing into the remainder of the season.

“It doesn’t mean they’re a different team because they’ve lost a penalty shootout,” she said.

“They’ve been an unbelievable team for a few years and obviously they’ll be devastated.

“You don’t want to go out on pens, you don’t want to go out of the Champions League in that scenario. Especially with that second half performance and extra time because we were well on top but we just couldn't find that goal.

“But I think now they have to get over this as quick as they can because we’ve still got a league to go for and an FA Cup on Saturday.”