Rodri of Manchester City criticizes Real Madrid's tactics following their Champions League defeat: I only saw one squad.

Rodri complained about Real Madrid's tactics after Manchester City's painful Champions League quarter-final loss, saying he "saw only one team" striving to win.

City's European title defence came to an end in agony on Wednesday at the Etihad Stadium, with the Spanish giants winning 4-3 in penalties after a 1-1 draw on the night made the tie 4-4 on aggregate.

The holders dominated the match, with 33 shots on goal to the visitors' eight, but Real defended deep to frustrate them and ultimately extinguish their dreams of a second consecutive triple.

City midfielder Rodri stated, "To be honest, I only saw one team. They defended well. They knew how to suffer, and we know how resilient Real Madrid is.

"But, in my opinion, we should take that many chances; yet, this is the trick of this competition. They understand how to play it. We congratulate them.

"We gave all, and there is nothing to regret. This can occasionally be football. This demonstrates how difficult it is to repeat our success from the previous season. It was quite aggravating, and sometimes it's impossible to convey."

City's withdrawal from the competition, which they won with a Rodri goal in Istanbul last year, combined with Arsenal's loss to Bayern Munich, means there will be no English semi-finalists for the first time since 2020.

City had to chase the tie after Rodrigo pounced to put Real ahead after 12 minutes.

They had a flurry of chances in response, with Erling Haaland coming closest in the first half when he headed against the bar.

Further opportunities came and went after the break, and it wasn't until the 76th minute that Kevin De Bruyne got through to score a well-deserved equaliser.

However, De Bruyne squandered a good chance to win it when he shot over shortly after, and with extra time failing to divide the sides, it came down to penalty kicks.

Ederson saved from Luka Modric, but Bernardo Silva's attempted Panenka was too simple for Andriy Lunin, who also denied Mateo Kovavic as Real advanced.

The Premier League leaders now have little time to regroup before facing Chelsea in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Rodri stated, "We will have to digest the defeat, but we must also rise up and stand up. We still have two more competitions to play in.

"We need a positive mentality to pursue any dream, which is currently difficult to discover. Tomorrow, we will rediscover it and face Chelsea, hoping to reach another final and compete for the Premier League."

City will have to analyze important players Haaland and De Bruyne, who, along with Manuel Akanji, were substituted before the penalty shootout.

Haaland was replaced at the end of ordinary 90 minutes, while the important De Bruyne left the game in the second session of extra time.

Manager Pep Guardiola said: "Erling and Kevin requested me to leave because they couldn't continue, like Manu. The game we were playing was fantastic, but they were unable to continue."

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