Pep Guardiola's reputation and legacy will not be diminished if he never wins the Champions League with Manchester City, according to Leeds United legend John Giles.
Guardiola's side were shocked in defeat to Real Madrid in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday.
The loss continued City's long wait for a Champions League title, with Guardiola yet to take them to silverware in Europe.
Speaking on Off The Ball on Thursday, Giles explained why he doesn't think that Guardiola's legacy will take a hit after Wednesday's loss.
"The manager always has to take responsibility for the result," Giles said. "But I wouldn't subscribe to that. You can get a bad break during the match, the other team can play well.
"That's football. They should have had it won, and they didn't, but that's football. Real Madrid came back at them and scored goals."
For Giles, the Champions League is not the Holy Grail. When he played for Leeds, or even Manchester United, he felt that the Premier League was more difficult to win, and so was the priority.
"I don't subscribe to it being the Holy Grail," Giles said. "It's the big competition, but if you look at last year, Chelsea won it last year.
"Were they the best team in Europe? I don't think so. That's my take on it. Everybody wants to win it, obviously.
"It is a huge competition, but when I played I'd rather win the [Premier] League when you had consistency week in and week out to do that.
"People are saying he won't be a great manager until he's won the Champions League. They forget he's won the Champions League twice with Barcelona.
"It is a disappointing result, don't get me wrong, for Guardiola and Manchester City not to go through to the final and win it."
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