‘I am disappointed and angry’
‘I selected the team, I selected the strategy and I am as disappointed as the players, but the buck stops with me’
‘We were not clinical enough, we were not efficient enough and we paid the price by failing to qualify’
Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc accepted full responsibility for his team's Champions League exit to Manchester City on Tuesday and said he was angry and disappointed with the outcome.
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PSG, who clinched the French title a month ago and are now 28 points clear in Ligue 1, were beaten 1-0 in their quarter-final, second leg tie as Kevin de Bruyne's 76th-minute strike sealed a 3-2 aggregate success.
"I am disappointed and angry," Blanc told reporters. "I really believed we would win this tie and qualify for the semi-finals.
"But we fell short over the two legs. We were not clinical enough, we were not efficient enough and we paid the price by failing to qualify."
Since Blanc took over as PSG manager from Carlo Ancelotti in 2013, he has guided the club to three successive French titles, but has also suffered three Champions League quarter-final defeats.
"We had our chance in the first leg and I have a lot of regrets about the first game. We scored two goals but that was not enough," he said.
"Of course we had players suspended tonight, but I am not going to hide behind that. I am the one responsible. I selected the team, I selected the strategy and I am as disappointed as the players, but the buck stops with me."
Blanc conceded that City were the better team over the tie and deserved to win, but added that Tuesday's hosts had been far from spectacular.
The former France international said the Champions League was becoming predictable with the same three teams, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, always reaching the latter stages.
"There are always the same three teams in the semi-finals and one guest team and this year that looks like being Manchester City," he said.
Should Bayern get past Benfica in their quarter-final, second leg on Wednesday, they could be drawn against City in the last four.
That would pit City boss Manuel Pellegrini against the man appointed to replace him next season, Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola.
