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A statement victory from City but Guardiola keeps his cool

RESENDING TO ADD POST MATCH NEWS CONFERENCE WITH REAL MADRID COACH ZINEDINE ZIDANE AND COMPLETE SCRIPT

VIDEO SHOWS: POST-MATCH NEWS CONFERENCES WITH MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA AND REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE

SHOWS: MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (AUGUST 7, 2020) (MANCHESTER CITY HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, SAYING:

"This competition can punish you we know from our own experience, but I think Gabriel (Jesus) made his contribution to this. He's the best guy for these kinds of situations, for the intuition, for the exclusivity. I think Gabriel was man of the match for these two games. He scored in Madrid. He provoked the penalty and (unintelligible) and scored a goal. He was so decisive for us. He was a big help, of course, for the whole team the way we fought and suffered in the bad moments."

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, SAYING:

"There are still many, many, many incredible teams of course, but it's an important first step for us, for our confidence, for this year, for the future. We beat Real Madrid. It's incredible for us, you know? But at the end (of the day) it's last 16. We still have three (more) games. We're going to Portugal to enjoy the country of Joao (Cancelo) and Bernardo (Silva). Stay there. Eat well. Be together. Laugh a lot. Work a lot. And arrive at the best moment to Olympique Lyon and try to achieve for the second time in the history of the Champions League - the semi-finals of the Champions League. So, the best success (we've had) in this competition was the semi-final. So, that's why you have to be so calm and we will see what happens."

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MANCHESTER CITY MANAGER, PEP GUARDIOLA, SAYING:

"Of course, our dream when we started this competition was to win it. Or first game against Shakhtar (Donetsk) there - OK guys, try it again, to win it. OK. We beat Real Madrid. Of course, for us, it's so important because we know the credit, the value, the prestige Real Madrid has. So, winning this title 13 times and three years in a row. Zidane, it was the first time he lost a knockout game. So, they're a massive club in terms of history and everything. And competing with them and beating them twice - for this season, for the future, it will be so good."

6. WHITE FLASH

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING:

"Well, we can't be happy, obviously, because we lost the game, we lost a qualifier. But at the end of the day, what we did the whole season, we have to be proud of that. That's soccer. We lost two matches to another good team and sometimes you just have to accept that. We had our chances to score, but we lacked a little - especially in the second half when we did better. But at the end of the day, that's soccer. Ninety-five percent of what we did throughout the season was excellent. And today we played an opponent, and we have to accept it."

8. WHITE FLASH

9. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) REAL MADRID COACH, ZINEDINE ZIDANE, SAYING:

"We should be, and I am, very proud of the team and what we did. It's been an excellent season. Obviously today we and the players are not happy because these are players who always want to win. And when you lose, this is how it is."

STORY: Pep Guardiola's Manchester City delivered a statement performance to move past Real Madrid and into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Friday (August 7), putting aside questions about their mettle in Europe's top competition.

Under Guardiola, City have fallen short in the knockout stage, allowing games to run away from them in losses to Tottenham, Liverpool and Monaco in the past three seasons.

But in both the 2-1 win at the Bernabeu in February and in this victory by the same scoreline at an empty Etihad, City showed a maturity and control that suggests they may be ready for a real challenge this season.

Olympique Lyonnais are next up on August 15 in Lisbon and on this form, City will start as favourites to reach the competition's semi-finals for only the second time.

While City showed the kind of focus and discipline that had helped Real to three Champions League titles under Zinedine Zidane, the Spaniards were undone with the sort of sloppy defending that has cost Guardiola's men in the past.

Twice Raphael Varane gave the ball away inside his box to gift City goals - the first created by Gabriel Jesus for Raheem Sterling and the second finished by the Brazilian.

But Guardiola deserves credit himself for the way he set his team up to press Real's fragile back-line with the surprise decision to feature Phil Foden as part of his front three.

City fans may believe this could be their year but Guardiola knows there is so much quality and so many surprises awaiting in the 'Final Eight' knockout tournament in Lisbon.

(Production: Kurt Michael Hall)