Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to retain the hurt of their dramatic Champions League defeat to Tottenham.
The Blues went out on away goals but thought they'd snatched a late winner when Raheem Sterling scored in injury-time, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR for offside.
Elation turned to devastation in the space of a minute at the Etihad Stadium, but Guardiola insists his players will get payback for their cruel defeat at some point and stressed how proud he was of his side.
"If you believe it doesn’t hurt, or forget it, I’d say no. I want to see my players know what they did on Wednesday," Guardiola said.
"It will take time, we have to live with that feeling. What we lived last Wednesday it was incredible, we were lucky to live it. More than 55,000 people happy then devastated in a second. There is not an activity in this world you can put in these limits.
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"It will remain in our hearts because in the future the performance we did was incredible at this level. That’s what it is. I don’t want to see them saying it doesn't matter."
Guardiola has taken the end of City's quadruple dreams with good grace, but he believes the pain of a second successive Champions League exit at the quarter-final stage can help his side to progress.
The City boss was delighted with the way his side played against Spurs and believes that could pay them back in seasons to come.
"I think it’s just life. I qualify for the first final of the Champions League with just one shot on target and maybe we didn’t deserve it," he said.
"Then there’s been others when we deserve it. It’s football, it’s life, it’s how you behave, football, life is not easy, you have to fight and react. It was incredible how we reacted, scoring three goals.
"We have to live with these situations, accept them. It will be on our minds but looking back it will help us to move forward.
"A tough night but the day after we move forward. These players have the opportunity to show they can do that. They can get back what they deserve, this season or next or three or four years. They will be in the same position an they’ll be luckier and go to the next stages."
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