John Stones remained “angry” and “frustrated” by Manchester City’s late collapse in a 3-2 defeat by Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League.
Real secured the victory through two delayed goals by Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham, after Erling Haaland had put the city in front of a penalty spot in the 80th minute.
The city led Haaland’s first game after 10 minutes before Kylian Mbappe leveled the game in the second half in front of the dramatic finale at Etihad.
It continues the non -characteristic matches of the Pep Guardiola side this season, with the Fifth place of the Premier League now reaching Bernabeu next week to overturn a target deficit to reach the last 16.
Stones said to Amazon Prime: “A few games after Arsenal (5-1 defeat), I don’t know how to put it in words right away. It’s so raw and frustrating for everyone.
“We were in the game so late and then there are two situations that are happening and we admit. It is disappointing as a defender to come out with that result.
“It’s a feeling of anger and frustration.”
Happened again!
Man City Agony in Etihad as Real Madrid lead! 😳#UCLONPRIME pic.twitter.com/vll8j9wuz6
– Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) February 11th 2025
Their delayed defeat was the ninth time the city failed to win after leading to the game, which is so many times in their previous four seasons.
The England defender added: “We need to see better games. The manager said we have to receive accountability for what we do on the pitch, I think we do this. We have to speed up when these bad times happen.
“Today we had a great opportunity to go to Bernabeu with a 2-1 lead. It’s not over. We have to stay positive, which is difficult now. As the manager says, we have to look at ourselves and get accountability.”
“We were right at the top at the beginning of the game and we know that the real one has quality to come out in the second half. It is avoided by us as eleven on the pitch. We must do better – it is so simple.
“We must maintain a positive mindset and try to put it properly.”
Bellingham: We played some of the best football of our season
The winner of the Bellingham match felt real is worth the win after an impressive start to the game, despite the fact that he went back and says his late goal could be critical in front of the return leg.
He said: “It was weird. We played some of the best football of our season and ended up behind.
“I think we were playing well and we created a lot. We were always confident in the whole game that something would fall for us.
“I don’t care what form the city is still an incredible group. It’s always difficult to play against them and finally we got the chance in the end.
“It’s always good to take the lead back home and I’m sure Bernabeu will come for us.
It seems that there are up and down these knockout games. It’s not just game management, it’s regular and it’s normal as well. ”
