Kyle Walker urges Manchester City to channel pain after 'cruelest' defeat | city ​​of manchester

Kyle Walker says Manchester City must channel the heartbreak of their Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid into the quest for a domestic double. The 33-year-old spoke of Wednesday night's cruelty. Defeat in the penalty shootout against Madrid.which followed a return match at the Etihad Stadium that City dominated from the start of the second half of normal time.

He first division The champions face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley on Saturday and are two points ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool at the top of the league with six games remaining.

“It's very difficult, it's probably the cruelest way to lose a game,” said Walker, reflecting on how misses by Bernardo Silva and substitute Mateo Kovacic on penalties ended City's victory. Champions League defending. “You have to accept it and move on. It hurts and we have to feel the pain. Hopefully that gives us the motivation to keep going and do something special at Wembley (against Chelsea).

“Recovering is part of our job. We are professionals. We've worked too hard to throw it away now. The best thing in football is that you have a game to fix it and Saturday is a huge game. It is a great opportunity to get this pain and fire out of our belly.”

Madrid, who scored early through Rodrygo, threatened on the counterattack in the first 45 minutes, but from then on it was all City. The statistics showed that they had 67% of the ball and 33 shots compared to Madrid's eight. Kevin De Bruyne scored the equalizer in the 76th minute and wasted a glorious opportunity to make it 5-4 on aggregate soon after. Phil Foden missed when he was well positioned in the 99th minute.

Against that, Madrid defended well in a low block; They did not waste many clear chances and Antonio Rüdiger, who scored the winning penalty, missed when he should have done better at the end of the first half of extra time.

“Overall, we were probably the better team,” Walker said. “But you have to take your hat off to real Madrid. His game plan worked. You do these drills… eight times out of 10 in training, it's very difficult for attackers to score when you're against a low block.

“We should be used to that. We've dealt with that, especially over the last seven years since I've been here. People come to the Etihad and find it difficult. We should have the experience to attack the teams that come and do that.

“The green problem was not on our side and especially when you go to penalties… I was there for England and City and I lost and I won. “It's flipping a coin.”