Pep Guardiola sent his Manchester City players a stern warning after they were beaten by Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Wembley defeat means the Blues have just the Champions League left to play for this season – but to reach the last eight they need to get past Madrid in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium two weeks on Friday.
And the way his players huffed and puffed, and missed chances against the resolute Gunners, raised fears that they could still blow it against the Spanish giants.
Guardiola said that his team knows it, without him throwing it in their faces.
“I don't have to tell them. They know it, they feel it,” he said. “We know the standards that we have to be at these kind of stages and competitions. Maybe we will learn and maybe not. We will see.
“The last game against Bournemouth was not good and today the first half wasn't good.
“We struggled to play in our level and we know it. It is not necessary to be a genius to realise we have to increase our standard against Madrid if we want to go through.”
City were undone by Guardiola’s former assistant Mikel Arteta, and the manager was not happy with the way they played.
“If you don't play for 90 minutes in a semi-final, this can happen. We didn't play good, we are human beings. The opponent played good, sometimes it happens.
“We didn't make a good performance, we were not ready enough. If you don't play for 90 minutes in a semi-final this can happen. We didn't play good, we are human beings. The opponent played good, sometimes it happens.
“The only regret is that we didn't play the first half like we played the second one. We had to change the setup but we couldn't do it.”
