Manchester: Once again, Pep Guardiola may be experiencing a sense of déjà vu, as his team wasted yet another opportunity to finish the game on top. Manchester City led 2-1 until the 80th minute, seemingly on course for a comfortable victory in front of their home crowd at the Etihad Stadium, where the partisan fans were booing and jeering Real Madrid, particularly their star striker Vinicius Junior. Fans waved large posters and banners reminding Real Madrid of their boycott of the Ballon d’Or ceremony, where Manchester City’s super striker Rodri was honored.

Ahead of the match, Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti had expressed his support for the team's decision to boycott the Ballon d’Or event, stating that Vinicius should have been awarded the Ballon d’Or for his stellar performances throughout the season.

Guardiola, however, expressed disappointment in his side’s inability to manage the game’s closing moments after Real Madrid struck twice late to secure a 3-2 win in the first leg of their Champions League play-off.

City’s recent performances have fallen short of the high standards set during Guardiola's glorious nine-year tenure. Late goals have been a recurring issue, with City conceding eight times in the last 15 minutes of their last five Champions League matches, including giving up leads to Feyenoord and Paris Saint-Germain in the group stage.

This latest loss could prove crucial to their chances of advancing to the last 16, as they head to Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg on February 19 in a difficult position.

"I am not good enough to give the team the composure to manage this situation," said Guardiola. "The truth is we are not stable enough. It has happened many times."

Erling Haaland had twice given City the lead at the Etihad, either side of Kylian Mbappe’s equalizer for the Spanish giants. However, City were undone by a series of defensive errors, allowing Real Madrid to seize control late in the match.

Ederson compounded a poor clearance by parrying Vinicius Junior’s shot into the path of Brahim Diaz, who equalized. Vinicius then took advantage of hesitant defending from Rico Lewis, racing clear on goal before Jude Bellingham tapped home the Brazilian’s wayward effort into an unguarded net.

"After the 2-1, it happened like it did this season many times against Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Brentford, and Manchester United," Guardiola said. "In the end, we gave it away ourselves, and at this level, it’s so difficult. It’s not the first time."

City defender John Stones said Guardiola had called for more accountability from his star-studded squad to dig themselves out of their current rut. "It’s a feeling of anger and frustration," said Stones. "We need to see games out better. The manager said we need to take accountability for what we do on the pitch. We need to step up when these bad moments happen. Today, we had a great opportunity to go to the Bernabeu with a 2-1 lead."

This is the fourth consecutive season the two sides have met in the Champions League. Madrid have won two of the previous three encounters, with the winner on each occasion going on to lift the Champions League trophy. However, in stark contrast to their previous visits to the Etihad, where City dominated, this time Madrid created more chances.

Mbappe, Bellingham, and Vinicius were guilty of being wasteful in front of goal, but Real Madrid made their late chances count. "It was a very good performance from us. We have to be content with the result, even though we had lots of opportunities," said Ancelotti. "We didn’t deserve to be 1-2 down. We were really dangerous, but in the end, the win is deserved."

The victory was even sweeter for the 15-time European champions as they traveled to Manchester without their entire first-choice defense. David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and Dani Carvajal were all missing, forcing midfielders Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde to play in the backline alongside youngster Raul Asencio.

"The four defenders, who had never played together before, were able to play a good game because the team worked really well defensively," added Ancelotti. "The more emergencies there are, the more this team sacrifices. I didn’t think at this moment the team was capable of sacrificing like this." | AFP