Beth Mead says Manchester City must be more lethal in front of goal if they are to challenge for the Women's Champions League title, while manager Andreé Jeglertz said the noise around the club was no distraction as they drew 1-1 with Real Madrid on Thursday.
Real Madrid's Linda Caicedo scored the opener in the first half after a neat run through the City defence, while Bunny Shaw grabbed a brilliant equaliser in the second half. Both teams tried to grab a winner but had to settle for a point.
Mead knows what it takes to win the Champions League having been an integral part of the Arsenal team that won the tournament in 2025, but in her first season at City, she feels the team needs to be more ruthless in front of goal.
Mead said on Disney+: "I think it's that cutthroat-ness, you know, we had some chances the second half and we've got to put them in the back of the net and we have a lot of players that can do that but I think they've got to be high value chances, you know, we're creating bits and bobs here and there, but I think it's just that last bit over the line that you've got to do in Europe now."
Mead admitted Real Madrid were the better side in the first half, but said City came into their own in the second half. When asked why this was the case, Mead answered: "If I had the answers, I don't think we'd be doing it, but I just think it's Champions League, European football, you've got to bring that intensity from minute one, or you get caught out, and I think that's just something we're going to have to learn now we're in Champions League, and obviously City were out of it last year. It's something you've got to get used to, as there's not many games to try and catch up then."
The match two days after the Premier League confirmed Manchester City had been found guilty of all charges relating to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules over a nine-season period. Despite the outside noise, Jeglertz said his players had remained focused on the match in hand. "There is a lot of noise outside, but the players are very calm," he said. "There were no discussions or thoughts at all from us. I haven't seen anything that would take a percentage out of our performance."
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For Real Madrid, their manager Pau Quesada was delighted with his team's performance, and said they deserved to take all three points. "I think we proved tonight we can compete against any club," Quesada said.
"As an organisation, we've wanted to build something special over the last two seasons. The start of this was last year where we got good results and we're proving now that we're not inferior to these teams. Tonight we've come here and given the English champions a real challenge, that proves we're not inferior in any way. I think we're at the same level as Manc, Arsenal and Chelsea and we can mix it with anyone at this level."
It could have been even sweeter for Quesada had referee Silvia Gasperotti not blown her whistle when she ran into Beth Mead, just seconds before Silvia Cristóbal stuck the ball in the back of City's net in the 89th minute.
"You can't have a referee standing in such a place where you're in the way of attacking moves," Quesada said. "My biggest anger isn't at the action of the player or the block of Mead, it's the problem that you work hard for these situations, Silvia deserved the goal, we deserve the three points, but the biggest kind of source of frustration for me is the positioning of the referee. And at this highest level, they shouldn't be right in the middle of the play there on the edge of the area."