Pep Guardiola admits Riyad Mahrez has returned to City 'a little bit sad' | OneFootball

After Algeria’s devastating defeat to Cameroon that will keep them out of the World Cup, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has, rather unsurprisingly, revealed that Riyad Mahrez has returned ‘a little bit sad’.

It’s been a tremendously difficult year for Mahrez with his nation as they finished bottom of their group at the AFCON back in January despite being matched with Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea, who were ranked 108th and 114th in the world at the time.

Algeria thought they had qualified after scoring a goal in the 118th minute of their second-leg clash with Cameroon only for Karl Toko Ekambi to break Algerian hearts by scoring in the 124th minute to send the visitors through on away goals.

Mahrez was benched for City’s showdown with Burnley and Guardiola has nothing but sympathy for his star winger.

“Riyad (Mahrez) is a little bit sad because he is not with Algeria at the World Cup and I said, ‘You score in the 118th minute to go to the World Cup and in the 124th, you concede to Cameroon and you’re out.

“You can’t find explanations, it’s football. It’s emotions, it’s many things, there are no timeouts like basketball or in tennis where you can sit down and reflect after two serves.

“It’s football… how many times do you play better and lose?”

The 31-year-old has been sensational for City all season, especially in the Champions League, where he has scored six times in eight outings.