Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola thinks that Real Madrid and Barcelona have much better chances of winning the Champions League than Manchester City. Manchester City have been doing remarkably well in the Premier League in the past 7 years but their Champions League performances haven’t been as one would expect them to be. Barring a semi-final appearance in the 2015-16 season, City don’t have much to boast about. Last season, they reached the quarter-finals where eventual runners-up Liverpool defeated them.
This season, City started the Champions League poorly by losing 1-2 to Lyon at home. They conceded early against Hoffenheim but came back to win 2-1. After amassing a record 100 points in the Premier League, many have touted Manchester City to win the Champions League soon.
However, Guardiola seems to think that the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus will give them a hard time.
The Spaniard said, “If we are favourites it means we are good, really good. But the best the club has done is a semi-final and I don’t know if we are ready, to be honest. When you believe you can win, then you have to do it. AC Milan, who will soon return to the Champions League, have won it seven times.
The favourites are the clubs with a bigger history and tradition than us. Real Madrid and Barcelona and also Juventus have been to the final twice recently and are getting closer every time.”
Guardiola also showered praise on Messi and told what a pleasure it was to see Messi and Ronaldo play at the same era. He said, “Leo is a competitive, fierce animal. That helps others to be competitive. He hates to lose and plays like when he was a kid. In big matches, if the team helps him, he makes the difference.
Together with Cristiano [Ronaldo] we have lived and are living an era of two phenomena. They have spent 10 years scoring 50 goals a season. It’s incredible.”
Pep Guardiola won the Champions League twice when he was Barcelona’s manager. However, he has failed to win Europe’s biggest prize ever since he left Camp Nou. During his time at Bayern Munich, Bayern reached the semi-finals of the tournament in all three seasons. At Manchester City, the best Guardiola has done is guide the club to the quarter-finals last season. However, this season Manchester City have a fair chance of lifting the trophy.
