Pep Guardiola reflects on Man City’s Club World Cup exit – and provides update on Rodri injury | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola admits his Manchester City side were not good enough in defending transitions after they were knocked out of the Club World Cup by Al Hilal.

City were beaten 4-3 after extra time as Marcos Leonardo struck a late winner to send the Saudi side through.

Guardiola’s side had taken the lead early on in the game through Bernardo Silva before Leonardo scored his first of the game to equalise.

Malcom then gave Simone Inzaghi’s side the lead before Erling Haaland quickly levelled the score.

Former Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly struck first in extra time but Phil Foden thought he had sent the game to penalties when he equalised, only for Leonardo to score again.

“It is a pity,” Guardiola said on his side’s defeat. “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.

“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 – rest our minds for the new season.

“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 – we did, but could not finish it.

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

In another blow for City, midfielder Rodri was also forced off having come on as a second-half substitute.

The Spaniard has only recently returned from his ACL injury and Guardiola said: “We have to see Rodri, he complained about his situation, but we need time to come back.”