Micah Richards has been left embarrassed after he got all of his predictions for the Champions League quarter-finals wrong.
Working as part of American broadcaster CBS' coverage, Richards was invited to name the sides he thought would reach the semi-finals last week before the first-leg ties. All four quarter-finals were completed on Wednesday night.
But Richards will not have been happy with any of the winners from both Tuesday and Wednesday. Using a big screen, the former Manchester City star revealed his predictions, tipping the reigning champions, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to make it through.
He said: "Arsenal v Bayern, the Arsenal ok, Real Madrid v Manchester City, just Man City. We'll go over this way with a little pirouette there Jamie. Atletico v Dortmund, Atletico. PSG v Barca, sorry Kylian, I'm going with Barca."
None of those predictions came to pass though, with all four sides Richards tipped to go through losing. Atletico lost their second leg 4-2, meaning Dortmund progressed to the semi-finals with 5-4 win on aggregate.
A red card for Ronald Araujo then saw Barca fall apart at home to PSG on Tuesday, with the French giants winning 6-4 on aggregate. Neither of the Premier League sides to reach the quarter-finals progressed on Wednesday.
Arsenal lost 1-0 in their second leg to Bayern, crashing out 3-2 on aggregate, before City lost on penalties to Madrid. The Gunners' defeat left boss Mikel Arteta crushed, with the Spaniard lamenting the small margins that led to their loss.
"Obviously very sad and disappointed with the final result. It was a tie of very small margins – in the first leg, we conceded two very poor goals and that has a big effect in the tie. We were still alive, came here and I’m really proud of the players," he said.
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"It was a game that you could see either an error or an individual or magic moment that would decide the tie. The margins are so small. We didn’t defend our box well at all in that action and we ended up throwing everything and trying everything, not having enough to score a goal."
City boss Pep Guardiola meanwhile insisted his side deserved to win the game, despite Madrid's victory. He praised Los Blancos for their defensive display as he insisted his side threw everything at them.
“Congratulations to Real Madrid - they defended so deep with incredible solidarity. We did everything. I don’t have any regrets about what we have done. Always as managers we try to create more and concede less in every single game because that helps to win," he said.
"We did everything, defensively and offensively. They made a good goal. There were two, three, four transitions but it is normal at that level with the quality they have. We played exceptionally in all departments. Unfortunately, we could not win. It is what it is.”
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