Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will ‘rest minds’ after shock Club World Cup exit | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola immediately turned his thoughts to next season after his side crashed to a shock defeat to Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup.

The Premier League side were beaten 4-3 in extra time after a pulsating clash at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium to exit the competition at the last-16 stage.

City were left to rue a succession of missed chances as they failed to add to Bernardo Silva’s ninth-minute opener before Marcos Leonardo and Malcom turned the game around.

Erling Haaland sent the game to extra time but City needed another equaliser from Phil Foden after Kalidou Koulibaly headed the Saudi Arabian outfit back in front.

City, who were repeatedly caught on the break, could not regain the initiative and Leonardo secured a major upset – and a statement victory for Saudi football – with 112 minutes on the clock.

Guardiola said: “It is a pity. We have been on incredible journey together and were in a good place. The vibe was really good.

“I cannot thank the players enough for training and playing how they have been.

“But it was a difficult game. The margins were minimal. We created a lot and (Yassine) Bounou made incredible saves but we were so open.

Manchester City are out of the Club World Cup (AP)

“We would have loved to have continued, it will only be once every four years, and we had a feeling that the team was doing well.

“But we go home and now it is time to rest and rest our minds for the new season.”

City had been strong favourites to prevail and go through to a quarter-final clash against Fluminense, the side they thrashed 4-0 in the 2023 final, but Guardiola conceded there were shortcomings at both ends of the field.

He said: “We regret a little bit that we allowed them to run a bit more. They defended so deep, the wingers were so quick and Bounou made a lot of saves.

“In the end, we have to score and be clinical. They arrived more in the transitions. They did not create much in the first half but we did but could not finish it.

“I had a feeling we could go through but they punished us on the transitions.”

The result underlines the rapid of acceleration of Saudi football in recent years.

Simone Inzaghi has guided Al-Hilal into the quarter-finals (PA)

Al-Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi said: “The key to this result was the players, the heart they put on the pitch.

“We had to do something extraordinary because we knew how good Manchester City are, we knew we had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and we were great.

“Guardiola is the best coach in the world but tonight we did our best and we deserved the result.”