Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has hit back at his critics claiming he has been 'massacred' in the aftermath of the Blues' defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League. City were beaten 3-0 in the Bernabeu thanks to a Federico Valverde hat-trick, leaving them with a mountain to climb to reach the quarter-finals.

Guardiola came in for criticism for his team selection, but pointed to changes he made for the FA Cup win against Newcastle last weekend where questions had also been asked on his tactics prior to kick-off.

The Spaniard opted to play two out-and-out wingers in Jeremy Doku and Savinho on Tyneside, while Nico O'Reilly reverted to left-back.

"How many times do I hear, 'Pep is a genius' for the team selection?" he asked. "Genius if you win. What happened in Newcastle? Did you read the comments before the game, (about) my team selection, on the social media?

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"How is Rodri not playing, how is Bernardo (Silva) not playing, how you don't play this player, how do you leave Erling at home? We won 3-1. After that, 'oh, Pep, how brilliant you have been'."

Guardiola went on to reference the criticism he received after City were beaten by Chelsea in the 2021 Champions League final when his controversial selection of Ilkay Gundogan made headlines.

"It’s 17 years I’ve been managing in that competition, and every time I lose, boom, my God. Pew, pew, pew," he said, mimicking critics firing guns.

"I have been massacred. Listen, I played a final of the Champions League without Fernandinho and Rodri as holding midfielder against Chelsea. Do you think that’s normal? No, honestly. Gundogan played in that moment. I was destroyed.

"I knew how Rodri was playing and Fernandinho was playing, it was not the Rodri that we met after, and in the other positions there are a lot of times many decisions coming for many, many, many reasons, for how you handle the pressure and the other ones.

"I can explain that but is it going to convince you for the next time?"

Guardiola has warned his faltering stars that the title race will be over this weekend if they fail to beat West Ham on Saturday night and Arsenal beat Everton in the tea-time kick-off.

The Blues' attackers have not been firing on all cylinders with Erling Haaland having scored just twice from open play in his last 17 City appearances. The Norwegian struggled to make an impact in the Bernabeu before being substituted in the second half.

"They have to move better," Guardiola added. "The players in the box have to make a movement before the pass, to smell where the ball will go.

"It’s guts and nose, that is the question for them – that is all. You make a movement, beat your man before the ball (is played) and you will score. Make a movement. We insist.

"It’s a question to improve, improve, improve and maybe next time will be better."

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