Manchester City

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Former Premier League midfielder Leon Osman says Manchester City's early Champions League exit could be a factor in "hugely competitive" Pep Guardiola deciding to stay in charge for another year.

Real Madrid knocked City out of the competition for the third consecutive season, - and the fourth time in five - and Guardiola has now failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second successive campaign after only failing once in his first 15 as a manager.

"It's hard to determine which high you want to go out on and how you feel when you're leaving somewhere," Osman told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

"When will he feel like it's job done? With the job Guardiola has done at City and how he has propelled them to be champions so many times, it just wouldn't sit right if he left at the end of this season with them [potentially] not actually winning anything and maybe not being in a good position.

"I do think silverware is important and will come into his thoughts when making his decision."

City trail leaders Arsenal by nine points in the Premier League with eight matches left to play, including a game in hand, while they meet the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday and have an FA Cup quarter-final against rivals Liverpool coming up in early April.

"Maybe the Carabao Cup would be enough and he will sit back at the end of the season and think that is a nice way to finish," Osman added.

"But, you can see he is a hugely competitive person - you can see that in his desire to be at the very top and be successful at the very best teams.

"My gut feeling is he might just stay another year."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Juventus will target Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva after cooling their interest in Newcastle's Sandro Tonali because Manchester United and Arsenal are both keen on the Italy international. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

Meanwhile, City could let winger Savinho leave in the summer, with Tottenham possible suitors if they retain their Premier League status. (Football Insider, external)

Want more transfer stories? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Shamoon Hafez
Football reporter

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Manchester City and Real Madrid have become familiar foes in this competition – this was the 11th meeting between the sides in the past five seasons and the La Liga giants prevailed again after their play-off round win last season and quarter-final victory two years ago.

Supporters had built up a fervent atmosphere in anticipation of a memorable result, but City will be sick of the sight of Real in the Champions League, being knocked out by their opponents on five occasions now.

The damage on this occasion was done with a heavy defeat in Spain and City's exit from Europe means any faint hopes of claiming four trophies this season have officially extinguished.

The draw against West Ham at the weekend leaves City with a huge task of reclaiming the Premier League title, trailing leaders Arsenal by nine points with eight games left to play, while they meet the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.

By the end of this week, City's campaign could be in ruins.

They host rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals next Sunday and if they are defeated at Wembley, that competition may turn out to be the only chance to claim silverware following last season's trophyless showing.

With question marks remaining over Guardiola's future at City beyond the end of this summer, the manager has now failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second successive campaign – that has only happened once in his first 15 seasons as manager.

Before Silva's sending-off, the hosts will be aggrieved that an offside flag that went up in the build-up did not stand, with VAR intervening by saying Vinicius Junior was onside.

The winger's resulting shot was kept out by the City skipper's elbow and it was deemed as deliberate handball, reducing the home side to 10 men for almost 70 minutes of the game.

Even with 11 men on the pitch, City would have found it a struggle to turn the contest around, despite having a total of 21 shots, and both Jeremy Doku and Rayan Ait-Nouri having goals disallowed for offside.

Erling Haaland's goal proved merely to be a consolation but the Norwegian will be hoping the strike will help him back to form having scored only five times in his past 19 games in all competitions.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola speaking to Amazon Prime: "It's difficult once you are 4-0 down and playing 10 men against 11. But we did everything."

On what the feeling is about the team's performance: "We have an extraordinary team and an extraordinary group of players. The future is bright.

"It's a little bit of a learning. But it should have been 11 against 11. But we never know. Maybe we lose 6-0, but it's a fact.

"[Thibaut] Courtois is a fantastic keeper. First 15-20 minutes was good, but after that it was 10 against 11 and it was difficult. In the end, Courtois was the best player on the pitch, so that means how good we were. The feeling is that give me the chance to play 11 against 11."

On Bernardo Silva's red card: "Reaction. Instinct. It's a big punishment - penalty and red card."

Hear more from Guardiola on BBC Sounds

Manchester City's Jeremy Doku, speaking to Amazon Prime: "I feel like we had a lot of chances. We played well, even with ten against 11, especially against a team like Real Madrid. It's going to be difficult, but we did well.

"We're disappointed with the loss, but it's a hard reality. When you experience the games, it doesn't feel like they were much better than us, even though it looks it from the scoreline.

"It's a different Real Madrid [compared to the league phase], but every game is different. The first leg score made them play a bit more defensively, they didn't need to score. They've always had a great team, we know their quality. I feel like we did well today.

"This campaign will teach us some lessons, we will learn a lot for the future ones. We will analyse the game and see what we can do better and then look forward to Sunday."

On Bernardo Silva: "He's our captain, he's the most disappointed of all us. It's not his fault, he tried to defend, we are not angry at it, he's just unlucky."

Did you know?

• Since winning the competition in 2022-23, Manchester City have gone past the round of 16 stage only once in three seasons since, reaching the quarter-finals in 2023-24.

• Bernardo Silva's red card for Manchester City is the first of his top-flight club career, on what is his 598th appearance (448 for Manchester City, 147 for Monaco, 3 for Benfica).

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

What did you make of Man City's performance?

Come back on Wednesday for a selection of your replies

Manchester City make four changes to the side that drew at West Ham in the league on Saturday.

And there are some surprises, with January signings Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi only named as substitutes.

Ruben Dias, Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku all start, with Nico O'Reilly and Omar Marmoush the other two players dropping to the bench.

Man City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Khusanov, Dias, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Reijnders, Silva, Cherki, Doku, Haaland.

Subs: Trafford, Stones, Ake, Marmoush, Kovacic, Nico, Guéhi, Savinho, O'Reilly, Semenyo, Foden, Lewis

Real Madrid make two changes to the side that beat Elche in La Liga on Saturday.

There is a start at right-back for former Liverpool man Trent Alexander-Arnold, coming in for Dani Carvajal.

Turkey international Arda Guler is also in, replacing Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga. Compatriot Kylian Mbappe is only fit enough for the bench following a knee injury.

Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen, Rudiger, Fran Garcia, Valverde, Tchouameni, Pitarch, Guler, Diaz, Vinicius.

Subs: Lunin, Carvejal, Alaba, Camavinga, Mbappe, Gonzalo, Carreras, Mastantuono, Diego Aguado, Cestero, Manuel Angel, Palacios.

There are four games in the Champions League on Tuesday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Sporting v Bodo Glimt (17:45)

• Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• Chelsea v Paris St-Germain

• Manchester City v Real Madrid - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

Kick-off times 20:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Arsenal v Bayer Leverkusen" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Man City v Real Madrid".

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.

Freddie Pye
Fan writer

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Pep Guardiola continues to point towards the game in hand, the meeting with Arsenal at Etihad Stadium in April, and the idea that "a lot can happen" in the Premier League.

But the fact of the matter is that this title race is now over, and perhaps it was over some time ago, too.

Saturday night's further dropping of points at the hands of a side languishing towards the bottom of the table highlighted the continued challenges facing Manchester City in various areas of the pitch.

When you have Gianluigi Donnarumma flapping at a corner and Erling Haaland failing to take chances when they present themselves in the penalty box, that sends out the ultimate concerning undertone for a side desperately clinging on to this notion that they can claim big silverware this season.

Add that to the increasing element of confidence over their title-winning fate at Emirates Stadium and it feels as though there's currently an inevitability about the direction of travel for the Premier League crown.

Have City ever been good enough to claim the top prize this season? That's an argument supporters could go on about, but the fact is that this is very much a squad in transition.

Wholesale changes in multiple positions and with plenty of youth and relative inexperience injected into the side, coming up against a Mikel Arteta project reaching its peak having been in development for several years.

There's certainly no time for dwelling on what could have been, however, with plenty more still to fight for, but given the speed at which matches are coming at crucial points in various competitions, Manchester City could realistically find their season largely over when it comes to silverware hopes in the next few matches.

A strong performance against Real Madrid, irrespective of the aggregate scoreline, and perhaps a victory in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal, may just add some glimmer of hope into the eyes of supporters, but a white flag is beginning to rise in the top flight from those at the Etihad.

Find more from Freddie Pye at City Xtra, external

Newcastle fear being dragged into another Alexander Isak-style saga with Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, 25, amid speculation of a £100m move to Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea or Real Madrid. (The I), external

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake is a target for AC Milan and Inter Milan with the Netherlands international, 31, unable to command a regular starting spot this season. (Caughtoffside), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Tuesday's full gossip column

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Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

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With all the pressure on Manchester City after Arsenal's win just half an hour or so earlier, they succumbed to the stress and dropped two points at West Ham.

But was it the stress or was it simply nothing more than bad luck? Pep Guardiola watched from the stands as his team had 21 shots to the Hammers' solitary effort on goal and even that one was only a millimetre over the line. City had 70% of possession and, on any normal day, that would lead to an easy three points.

Across London, Arsenal would probably have struggled to break down Everton had the Toffees not gone for the three points in the last five minutes. David Moyes set out his team brilliantly, they defended well and even created the better chances on the break.

Had Everton sat back grimly hanging on for the single point, would Arsenal have broken through? Maybe, but very possibly not.

Everton are safe from relegation and had very little to lose, so clearly thought "we might as well have a go". In their first high press committing numbers forward, Arsenal broke and took advantage.

Yes, Mikel Arteta got it right and his substitutions worked a treat. Piero Hincapie got the assist for the first after Max Dowman's superb cross and the other sub, Viktor Gyokeres, tapped it in, before Dowman killed it off minutes later with the second goal.

It was great work from the bench but don't forget that Arsenal did get a little luck and City got none. Then again, you know the old saying – you make your own luck and Arsenal certainly did.

Sign up to read more from Pat Nevin in his Football Extra newsletter

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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News conferences are tricky when a team is three goals down against a major rival and you must look ahead to the rematch.

You can't sound defeatist, but also you must be realistic.

There was talk about that famous day Manchester City were two goals down against Aston Villa on the final day but came back to win the Premier League title. Pep Guardiola and Bernardo Silva were also keen to stress it doesn't matter what the position of the game was at what time, City need to retain belief - that is to get away from the old cliche that they need to score early.

Silva struck the key point, though.

This is a City team in transition. Of the 23 players involved in the 2023 Champions League final, 15 have left the club. Of those who remain, Nathan Ake and John Stones are not regular starters, Phil Foden rarely starts and Rodri and Ruben Dias have both suffered injuries.

City know they are capable of hitting the levels required on Tuesday - they weren't awful in the Bernabeu but Real took their chances - but that is different to knowing they will.

Victory would represent one of the great nights in City's history. It would also be a significant step forward for a new team.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva says "it's going to be tough" to turn their Champions League tie against Real Madrid around but they "will fight until the end".

Pep Guardiola allowed the squad to rest on Monday after a tight turnaround from being in Madrid and then travelling to London to play West Ham on Saturday.

Speaking to the media before Tuesday's second leg at Etihad Stadium, Silva said: "He [Guardiola] thought it was better to free our minds so that we can come back tomorrow stronger and ready for the game.

"A lot of things can happen in a football game, and although the result in Madrid was really bad, we will fight until the end.

"We know it's going to be tough as the opponent is a very good one. We are going to try to create the right atmosphere.

"We know what this team is capable of. The thing we've lacked this season is consistency . We know we can reach that level but can't do it consistently for the right amount of games.

"If we are on it tomorrow then we know it is possible, but we cannot concede another goal. We know that if we do then the tie is over.

"When I watched the game [first leg] back, I didn't see a reason why we were 3-0 down at half-time.

"The result was much worse than the performance, in my opinion. That counts for nothing in football, though."

Hear more from Silva below or listen on BBC Sounds here

Explore all Man City audio on BBC Sounds

Katie Stafford
BBC Sport journalist

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has been speaking to the media before Tuesday's Champions League last-16 second-leg game against Real Madrid at Etihad Stadium (kick-off 20:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Guardiola has "more or less" picked his team for Tuesday's game, but he did not give hints about who will start against Real Madrid.

• Because of the amount of travel they have done in the last week, today was needed to rest and they will train tomorrow afternoon.

• On his decision for prioritising rest: "In modern football, training doesn't improve a match a lot. You don't have time to train."

• He said the message to his players "is consistent" and despite being three goals down, they will be "sustainable in our approach" to the game.

• On the deficit: "The task is massive to score more than three goals against Madrid. I'm not concerned about the chances we can create. We're at home. It's more about how we are going to defend."

• He said "it is an incredible opportunity to try" to turn their Champions League campaign around and they need to "try and try and never give up".

• On whether he's having to get his belief over to the players: "If you have to convince players about my belief after 10 years then we are in trouble. They know me well. Every single game they have tried. I'm pretty sure they will try."

Hit play above to hear more from Guardiola or listen on BBC Sounds here

Follow all of Monday's news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Listen to commentary of Man City v Real Madrid at 20:00 on Tuesday on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds

Got a question about Man City? Get in touch here and we'll put it to our experts

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has cancelled training before his side's Champions League return leg against Real Madrid.

City were due to train at 15:00 GMT. But Guardiola has opted to cancel the session and give his players a day off instead.

Although the players are off, Guardiola will be accompanied by captain Bernardo Silva at Monday's news conference at the club's training ground.

It is an extraordinary step by Guardiola given the importance of the game, which City start 3-0 down.

However, he has done it before. He gave his players the day off before their league phase match against Borussia Dortmund in November. City won that fixture 4-1.

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between West Ham and Man City.

Here are some of your comments:

West Ham fans

Tim: Two excellent home performances in a row! Everyone putting in an extra 10% effort and it's really working. Mavropanos has taken over the role of 'defence captain ' and has been excellent.

Sue: The first half hour was hard to watch. I thought we were going to get thrashed especially when City scored, but then we started to play more confidently and after we scored we were brilliant. What a good point we earned.

Dean: A resolute defensive display - from the reaction at the final whistle from both players and fans alike, you'd think we'd won. We're not safe yet but the team spirit was magnificent against City.

Joe: The team is consistently showing a fighting spirit, and that is all West Ham fans want. Mavropanos is finally good, and all the defence played their socks off. This team can beat the drop and send Spurs down, what a turnaround!

Man City fans

George: Like all our games, our defenders play as forwards and lack speed to get back for long balls. They are holding onto balls longer than they should instead of searching for players with openings. Foden is the one player that has that vision and he's on the bench for too long.

Brian: Man City were not good enough on the day, and both teams needed points from this match. But West Ham wanted those points more. A draw is a loss at this stage of the title race. An embarrassing watch for fans and a tough seven days for those dedicated fans. We have a live interest in two trophies and with these performances a fading hope of success. Key players have to do better.

Usama: Our so called title challenge has run its course, Pep Guardiola's time at City surely has as well. Next season most certainly would be a season too far for Pep. This tippy tappy nonsense possession football is tedious and extremely predictable. This club needs a new direction come summer and if the board had any sense they would see that too and part ways with Pep. For all he's done and achieved there comes a time for change.

Scouts from Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona have been closely monitoring 21-year-old England and Newcastle defender Lewis Hall. (Caughtoffside), external

Manchester City could also sign Spain defender Pedro Porro, 26, for significantly less than his £80m valuation because of Tottenham's financial situation if they are relegated. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Pundits Joe Hart and Ashley Williams join host Kelly Cates to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Sunderland 0-1 Brighton

• Burnley 0-0 Bournemouth

• Chelsea 0-1 Newcastle

• Arsenal 2-0 Everton