Stone left ‘furious’ and ‘frustrated’ after blowing leadership in Real Madrid’s defeat

John Stones remained “furious” and “frustrated” the late collapse of Manchester City in a 3-2 defeat from Real Madrid in their first leg of the Champions League play-off.

Real secured victory through two late goals to Brahima Diaz and Jude Bellingham after Erling Haaland put the city in front of the penalty area in the 80th minute.

City led through Hauland’s first in the game after 10 minutes before Kylian Mbappe equalized the game in the second half in front of the dramatic finals at Etihad.

Pep Guardiola’s unusual struggle continues this season, with the fifth foreign Premier League Foreign League going to Bernabeu next week, which was supposed to undo the goal deficit to reach the last 16.

Stones said Amazon Prime: “A few games after Arsenal (5-1 defeats), I don’t know how to put it in words immediately, it’s so raw and frustrating for everyone.

“We were in the game late, and then two situations happen and we admit. It’s frustrating as a defender to drain with that result.

“It’s a sense of anger and frustration.”

It happened again!

Man City agony in Etihad as Real Madrid leadership! 😳#Uclonprome pic.twitter.com/vll8j9wuz6

– Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideoSport) 11 February 2025

Their late defeat was the ninth time that the city failed to win after running in the game, which is as many times as in their previous four seasons.

The English defender added, “We need to see the games better. The manager said we have to take responsibility for what we do on the field, I think we do it. We have to step up when these bad moments happen.

“Today we had a great opportunity to go to Bernabeu with a 2-1 lead. It was not done. We have to remain positive, which is difficult now. As the manager says that we have to look at ourselves and take responsibility.”

“We were at the top at the beginning of the game and we know that it is a really good quality out of the second half. We can be avoided as eleven in the field. We have to do better – that’s so simple.

“We need to keep a positive mentality and try to correct it.”

Bellingham: We played some of our best football in the season

The winner of the Bellingham match considered Real deserving of winning after an impressive start of the game, despite the fact that he went behind him and says that his late goal could be crucial ahead of his return leg.

He said, “It was strange. We played some of our best football in the season and ended up behind.

“I think we played well and creating a lot. We were always sure of the whole game that something would fall for us.

“I don’t care about the city in the city still an amazing team. It’s always ticklish to play against them and we finally took the opportunity at the end.

“It’s always good to go home and I’m sure Bernabeu will pass for us.

There seems to be that there are ups and downs in these knockout games. It is not just game control, but is tactful and is also physiological. “