Pep Guardiola has claimed that three Manchester City players played extremely well against Real Madrid.

Considering the result went the visitors’ way at the Etihad Stadium, perhaps some might be surprised to hear Guardiola praising some of his players.

However, as the Catalan tactician stated before the game, his City side had to play better than they did at the Santiago Bernabeu to win on Wednesday.

While Manchester City did put in a much more assured performance, it seemed like it was simply not their day.

But keeping that in mind, a majority of their players can be proud of their displays.

Especially considering Real Madrid had their fair share of superstars on the pitch who were also exceptional against the Sky Blues.

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Guardiola says three City players were “amazing” against Real Madrid

For instance, a player who stood out against Los Blancos was Ruben Dias.

Ahead of the contest, Steve Nicol had stated that the former Benfica defender could be his side’s weak link in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final.

But that was not the case as Dias put in a heroic performance against the Spanish giants.

Similarly, Rodri was at his brilliant best, controlling the tempo of the game and perhaps emerging as one of, if not the standout midfielders on the pitch against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Considering the likes of Toni Kroos, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde and Jude Bellingham were splendid, City’s number 16’s display was even more impressive as he often dominated them.

Yet, it was not enough for the hosts, who lost to Real Madrid for the first time since the 2021/2022 season and once again, in dramatic fashion.

It is fair to say that as far as Champions League classics go in recent history, the clash between the two European giants will be spoken about in years to come.

After his side’s defeat to Real Madrid, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola revealed that he was impressed with how Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji performed.

“Erling [Haaland] and Kevin [De Bruyne] asked me to go out, could not continue, like Manu [Manuel Akanji]. So, the game we were playing, they were amazing, I’m not a big fan of making substitutions but Kevin, Erling and Manu asked me to go out because we could continue”, he said [via HaytersTV].

De Bruyne and Akanji impressed but Haaland was not at his best

In our view, Pep Guardiola is right to highlight how well Manchester City duo Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji played against Real Madrid but the same cannot be said for Erling Haaland.

De Bruyne scored the crucial equaliser for the Sky Blues and throughout the game, he looked like his side’s biggest goalscoring threat.

Manuel Akanji was tasked to play in John Stones’ role and he fared well, often providing incisive passes to the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden behind the opposition defence.

Of course, the Swiss defender did cede possession at times but considering he is not used to picking up the ball in advanced areas of the pitch and that too against a team of Real Madrid’s ilk, mistakes were also bound to come from him.

Unfortunately for Haaland, he did not get enough chances to test Lunin in between the sticks on Wednesday.

As for his all-round display, the Norwegian was quiet but when he did get the ball, he laid it off well for his teammates, using his physicality and technique.

But all in all, Erling Haaland was far from his vintage self and perhaps he could have redeemed himself during the penalty shootout.

But having been taken off before the start of extra time, that was not a possibility for the 23-year-old.