A shot by Bale helped Madrid beat Manchester City 1-0 in the semifinals of the Champions League on Wednesday.
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Following their loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final, Manchester City head coach Manuel Pellegrini has said neither team deserved to win as both the first and second leg matches were even contests with defenders dominating strikers.
The Wales global was keen to highlight his manager’s contribution to the home team’s victory, exactly four months since Zidane replaced Rafa Benitez in the Madrid dugout.
“One-nil is a close result but we were the better side”.
“City made things hard for us but we’re happy to be in the final”.
“Yes, I am disappointed we didn’t create chances”, said Pellegrini, who leaves the club at the end of the season.
“We have shown we know how to win a final and we are going to try and do it again”.
Pellegrini avoided a question about how many players City needed to take the next step and reach a first Champions League final.
“We had chances through [Luka] Modric and myself, and it was the kind of game we had to kill off”. He’s helping us and we are helping him. It was a very professional performance.
Asked if he regretted his team’s approach to the game, the Chilean said: “No. I think we worked very well”. You may have your own opinion that City did nothing.
He said: “People had doubts about me, I don’t know why – people forget that sometimes I recover fast”.
In contrast, Ronaldo holds two Champions League titles (one with Manchester United and one with Real Madrid) and lost the final that pitted the English club against Barcelona in the 2008-2009 season.
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He added: “Real Madrid could not create chances, but after that work you have to create and have players who can do work in the final third but we couldn’t”. “I think we were also missing David Silva, and with Yaya Toure coming back from an injury, meant we didn’t have many creative midfielders that could make the difference”.
