Pep Guardiola vowed to end Manchester City’s Champions League hoodoo after another crushing exit from the competition.
A 3-1 defeat to Lyon means Guardiola has failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals in four attempts as City manager.
And he is still to achieve his ambition of conquering Europe without the help of Lionel Messi.
Guardiola is still waiting for his first Champions League triumph since winning it twice with Barcelona. And he could not disguise his frustration after defeat to underdogs Lyon in Lisbon.
“One day we will break this gap to the semis,” he said. “In the first 20, 25 minutes we struggled to find spaces to attack.
“The second half was OK - we were there. I had a feeling we were better. You have to be perfect in this competition.
“We are disappointed. We now go on holidays. Then we have to lift the players when they return to the club again.
“Sometimes you have to break this. The team over last few years deserve it. Maybe one day we’ll break this gap.”
Substitute Moussa Dembele scored twice in the last 11 minutes to secure Lyon’s place in the semi final against Bayern Munich.
Maxwell Cornet had fired the French side in front in the first half, before Kevin de Bruyne equalised after the break.
Dembele made it 2-1 on 79 minutes, but collided with Aymeric Laporte when running through on goal.
VAR allowed the goal to stand – and Guardiola refused to condemn the decision.
“I don’t want to talk about these circumstances. It looks like I’m complaining and finding excuses.
“We did a lot of good things, but it wasn’t enough. We made mistakes in the boxes in key moments. We struggled to find our spaces to attack.”
Reflecting on Raheem Sterling’s late miss when the score was 2-1, he added on BT Sport: “In this situation you have to equalise to take it to extra time, but then we concede the third and it’s over. We created more chances and more shots.”
