We are not ready to win UCL — Guardiola admits despite beating Real Madrid

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insisted that his side were far from ready to compete for the Champions League, stating that they still had some improvement to do to win, despite beating legacy side Real Madrid.

The Cityzens rocked up to the new Santiago Bernabeu and beat Xabi Alonso's side 2-1 thanks to goals from Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland. Still, Guardiola said his team were still far from full capacity. 

Speaking after the match, Guardiola analysed the result, noting the standout players, while lauding some of the Real Madrid players. 

"Could be better. So difficult here. Four or five players played for the first time here. Winning here, we have to be happy in terms of points, especially,” he said, per the BBC. “We have 13, and it's in our hands to finish in the top eight. That's the target, and winning here after Leverkusen is good.

"Matheus [Nunes] was good. Full-backs, Rayan Cherki, first time playing here. Nico [O'Reilly]'s incredible performance. Jeremy [Doku] helped us a lot with many things. We started with a mistake, but I was expecting them to press higher, but they dropped, and we found it hard. But we take it.

"Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, [Jude] Bellingham, great players. The pace they have up front is so dangerous; that's why you can't stay high – you have to be committed in defence. We lacked a little bit so we can improve."

Guardiola continued, saying that they were not yet ready to compete; however, he believes that they can be ready to perform in February. 

 "We are not ready. We are away. In February, we will be better. These kinds of games – we have been here before and played better and lost. The players made a big effort, but we still have much to improve."