Tag: Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola says his veteran Manchester City stars still have a key role to play in the club’s rebuild as he seeks to reclaim past glories after a difficult season.

City have only the FA Cup left to compete for in terms of silverware, following the collapse of their Premier League title defense and their Champions League defeat by Real Madrid.

Guardiola’s team will host second-tier Plymouth in the fifth round on Saturday.

The club has been criticised for not renewing an aging squad more quickly, despite winning six of the past seven Premier League titles.
City made four signings in the January transfer window — Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Nico Gonzalez, and Vitor Reis — highlighting the scale of the rebuild required following injuries and a dip in form for key players.

However, speaking at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Guardiola insisted that his experienced players would still play an important role next season.

“There are players here who are over 30, and they will be part of the future of this club,” he said.

“Except for Kevin — Kevin and the club will decide in the future — the others have contracts, and I expect them to be here next season. They are going to help us.”

He added: “We cannot do it just with the new ones or just with the old ones. We have to be all together… It is important for the end of this season and the next.”

“I count on Gundo (Gündoğan, 34), I count on Berni (Bernardo Silva, 30), I count on all the players who have contracts. They are here. I do not doubt that.”

Guardiola, whose team is aiming to reach the FA Cup final for a third consecutive season, is refusing to take Plymouth lightly.

The south-coast side, currently in the Championship relegation zone, stunned runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool in the fourth round.

“We have played many times in the Carabao (League) Cup and the FA Cup against lower-league teams, and they are always tricky,” he said.

“What these teams do, they do really well. And if you are not ready, you are in trouble. We have a chance to reach the last eight of the FA Cup again, and we want to do it.”

Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City will be a Premier League force again in the future after Erling Haaland sealed a 1-0 win at Tottenham on Wednesday.

Haaland’s clinical finish in the 12th minute bolstered City’s bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League as they moved into fourth place.

Battling to finish in the top four is a significant letdown for City after they won the last four Premier League titles to make it six in seven seasons for Guardiola.

Liverpool look almost certain to take the title this season, but City — beaten 2-0 by the Reds on Sunday — have been out of the race for months after a dismal period which has left them 20 points adrift of the leaders.

With City also out of the Champions League following their play-off loss to Real Madrid, Guardiola has only the FA Cup left as a path to silverware this season.

But in the longer-term, the Spaniard remains convinced City can be restored to their former glory despite a team ageing in some positions and lacking Premier League experience in others.

The good and bad sides to City’s spluttering team were on full display in north London as they started brightly but wasted a series of chances to increase their lead before clinging on under heavy pressure after the interval.

“Never will be this season the old City,” Guardiola said. “Old City were too good, but we will be back.

“The game, it was open second half because we didn’t close the first. In this stadium always they have 20 to 25 minutes and second half we suffered.

“It’s happened many times this season that we give away an unbelievable amount of goals and up front there are many games, like Champions League at Sporting we should be 1-3 or 1-4 in the first half and we lost 4-1. Many times it happens and today fortunately it finished good.”

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou claimed overeagerness hurt his injury-hit team during a one-sided first half.

Postecoglou’s men have endured a season almost as troubled as City’s, leaving them in 13th place and chasing Europa League glory to end a 17-year trophy drought.

“First half we were just a little bit too eager to get forward with the ball. I thought we were really wasteful and when you are against City, it allows them to get into a rhythm,” Postecoglou said.

“They can pick you off at different times and we just didn’t handle that part of the game well. They scored and had a couple of good chances to get further ahead.

“I certainly felt second half we dominated the game and territory. We were pretty relentless. Much better with the ball and a lot calmer but just missing a goal and ultimately fell short.

“It’s disappointing to lose again and that’s the main feeling, but it did look more like us today.”

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said “nothing is eternal” after his side were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

City have enjoyed great success under Guardiola, with their trophy haul under the former Barcelona boss including six Premier Leagues and the European Cup in 2023.

However, they have endured the most testing campaign of his reign this term, having dropped out of the domestic title race amid an injury crisis and now out of Europe after Wednesday’s loss in Madrid.

Nothing is eternal,” Guardiola said. “We have been unbelievable and we have to try step by step to get better from today.

“We have been extraordinarily extraordinary in the past, but not any more.

“We have 13 games [left in the Premier League] and have to be top four or five to try to be [in the Champions League] again.”

After narrowly losing the first leg of their knockout play-off tie 3-2 at Etihad Stadium, City were a distant second best in Madrid, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick as the hosts won 3-1 on the night to ease through 6-3 on aggregate.

“We couldn’t defend well with the movement from Mbappe and it was more difficult,” said Guardiola.

“The best team won, they deserved it. They were better. What we have to do is accept the reality and move forward.”

City striker Erling Haaland was not fully fit because of injury and was named on the substitutes’ bench.

The Norway international did not take part in the warm-up and was not brought on despite his side trailing.

“Erling tried to train,” Guardiola said.

“Apparently with the images we have done he is fine, but he had discomfort walking. He said ‘I am not ready, I don’t feel good’.”

Pep Guardiola strode into the Bernabeu Stadium’s palatial surroundings knowing Manchester City must overturn the odds – and logic – in a special place that usually reserves its miracles for Real Madrid.

He has known every emotion in this legendary arena on a Champions League journey that has brought him here with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

And on Wednesday, Guardiola will once more appear alongside his friend and great adversary, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti, beneath those towering stands knowing victory will rank among his finest achievements.

Guardiola rates City’s chances of overturning a 3-2 deficit from the first leg of this play-off to reach the last 16 as “1%”.

And, to gauge the opinions of locals in a city that has held more Champions League victory parades than any other, they feel Guardiola is erring on the side of optimism.

Guardiola was in measured mood when he appeared in front of the media at the Bernabeu, an environment that represented enemy territory during his time as player and coach with Barcelona – and his message was crystal clear.

“We have to make it almost the perfect game,” he said. “We have to attack. We have to score goals. This is the idea.”

Guardiola is determined City will not leave the Bernabeu wondering or with regrets, saying: “We must play with courage. We must be ourselves. It will need incredible courage and we must play to win.

“We could still lose, but we have to show that courage and be ourselves. We have to play so well, especially after the result we took away in the first leg.”

Opta statistics rate City’s chances of advancing at a more optimistic 19.8%, but those percentages must be viewed through the prism of Real’s history in this tournament and the muscle memory that kicks in for the 15-time winners when it matters.

Guardiola’s record with City against Real is chequered, though it started with victory in the last 16 in 2020, the two legs being played six months apart because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The most bitter moment came two years later when City led by two goals on aggregate in the 90th minute of the semi-final second leg at the Bernabeu, only for Rodrygo to score twice within seconds, Karim Benzema’s injury-time penalty sending Real on to eventual victory over Liverpool in the final in Paris.

When Guardiola, as Manchester City manager, claimed his third Champions League crown in 2023, after winning with Barcelona in 2009 and 2011, Real were thrashed 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-final, the Spanish champions then prevailing on penalties last season.

He said: “I have some incredible memories here – sometimes good ones, sometimes not so good.

“We know at this stage, and in this stadium, the pressure is there – but you get that in Milan, in Barcelona, at Anfield. You have to suffer at these places, but you have to reduce those moments.”

Real’s remarkable win against City in 2022 is the sort of sporting lightning strike Guardiola will seek to turn back on them, but he must do it with a fading team that has lost its domestic supremacy after winning a historic four successive Premier Leagues, and now faces the prospect of going out of the Champions League before the last 16 for the first time in 12 years.

Carlo Ancelotti (left) and Pep Guardiola will be meeting in the Champions League for the 10th time

The wily Ancelotti was not taking Guardiola’s bait about percentages when he spoke in Madrid on Tuesday, saying: “He doesn’t really think that. We don’t think we have a 99% chance. We have a small advantage – and we have to take advantage of that.”

Guardiola responded: “For the first time he didn’t believe me. I always say what I think, and this time you don’t believe me.”

Statistics pile up like giant obstacles in front of City’s route to the last 16, explaining why Real are overwhelming favourites after two goals in a late surge gave them victory at Etihad Stadium.

It was the 40th time Real have won the first leg of a European knockout-stage tie away from home, progressing on 37 of the previous 39 occasions.

City’s defeat, meanwhile, was the fifth time they have lost the first leg of a Champions League knockout-stage tie, going on to be eliminated on the previous four occasions.

For Ancelotti, this tournament’s greatest coach with five wins, he will be meeting Guardiola in the Champions League for the 10th time, on eight occasions with Real against City. The Italian has won four of their nine meetings, never losing at home, winning two games and drawing two.

Of more recent significance is that to unseat the holders, City will have to alter poor form in the competition after losing their past three away games to Sporting, Juventus and Paris St-Germain.

Guardiola’s spirits will be lifted by Saturday’s 4-0 win over Newcastle United which included a hat-trick inside 14 first-half minutes for new Egyptian signing Omar Marmoush, while Erling Haaland demonstrated his quality with both goals in the first-leg defeat, his first against Real Madrid.

Haaland has been prolific in the Champions League, scoring 49 goals in 48 games. If he scores at the Bernabeu, he will become the fastest player to 50 goals in appearances and age, at 24 years and 213 days.

It could even be a Champions League farewell to Manchester City for modern greats of the club such as Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and goalkeeper Ederson, while others such as Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic are also in their 30s.

Guardiola would not be drawn as he said: “I would like to answer this but it will be at the end of the season. We still have a lot to play for, to qualify for the Champions League next season, we are still there in the Champions League this season. We have the FA Cup and the Club World Cup.”

Silva added: “If you had told me at the start of the season that we would be in this position in the Champions League and the Premier League I wouldn’t have believed you. We deserve to be in this complicated situation because of where we finished.

“We have to believe. We still believe things can go our way, but this season is certainly a lesson for the future.”

For Manchester City, that future is now – in the forbidding, unforgiving surroundings of the Bernabeu on Wednesday.

And if Guardiola can overcome those “1%” odds in this footballing cathedral, it will rank alongside the best results of his career.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said his side have just a one percent chance of progress to the Champions League last 16 against Real Madrid on Wednesday but the English champions’ new recruits could offer a lifeline.

City blew a late 2-1 lead in the first leg of the play-off tie last week at home to lose 3-2 to the holders.

That collapse was part of a wider trend this season as Guardiola’s ageing squad have struggled to last the pace, particularly when the intensity is turned up on Champions League nights.

As a consequence, City broke with their usual transfer policy to spend big in January, bringing in Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Nico Gonzalez for fees totalling £170 million ($214 million).

However, none of them started the first leg against Madrid. Marmoush was the only one to even make an appearance for the final few minutes off the bench, as Gonzalez and Khusanov were unused substitutes and Reis was not registered in City’s European squad.

Guardiola may now regret that decision after Marmoush, Gonzalez and Khusanov all played pivotal roles in arguably City’s best performance of the season on Saturday when Newcastle were blown away 4-0 at the Etihad.

Marmoush hogged the headlines thanks to his first-half hat-trick, finally offering City another potent scoring threat to compliment Erling Haaland.

Khusanov recovered from his nightmare Premier League debut against Chelsea last month when he gave away a goal inside three minutes and could have been sent-off shortly afterwards.

This time the Uzbek showed why City paid Lens a reported 40 million euros (£33 million, $42 million) for his services.

The 20-year-old’s pace helped sniff out the danger posed by Newcastle’s Alexander Isak and could be what the visitors need to combat the threat of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo in the Santiago Bernabeu.

Guardiola, though, reserved special praise for the impact of Gonzalez in bringing the City midfield the stability they have lacked since Ballon d’Or winner Rodri suffered a serious knee injury in September.

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The Barcelona academy graduate seems certain to start on his return to Spain with his manager already hailing the 23-year-old as a “mini Rodri.”

– Gonzalez a game changer –

“The balance of the team looks much, much better already with Gonzalez in it,” said former City defender Micah Richards.

“City have got players who can score goals and hurt Real, but he brings some stability behind them, which they will need if they are to manage the game in Madrid.

“Do they have more chance of beating Real with him in the starting 11? Without a doubt.”

Yet, even at their best during the golden years of Guardiola’s reign in Manchester, City have often found the might of Madrid too tough a nut to crack in the Champions League.

This is the fourth consecutive season the sides have met, with a 5-1 aggregate rout en route to winning the competition for the first time in 2023 City’s only success.

Three years ago they seemed to be cruising into the Paris final with a two-goal lead heading into stoppage time of the second leg before Rodrygo’s quickfire double sent the tie to extra-time and ultimately Madrid to a 14th European crown.

Last year it was penalties that got the Spanish giants over the line after City dominated the majority of two score draws in the quarter-finals.

Guardiola conceded the prospect of his side finding their best again when they need it most is unlikely.

“This season the reality is we have been miles, miles away. If you tell me that we would perform like today (against Newcastle) and finish 22nd in the Champions League (table), of course not. We would finish higher,” said the former Barcelona boss.

“The results have been poor this season. Just for one game I’m not going to change my opinion.

“If you ask anybody before that game, we have one percent but as much as we have a chance we will try. That’s for sure.”

However, a timely injection of fresh blood does give hope that a miracle in Madrid is possible.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola believes his team only have a “one per cent” chance of overcoming Real Madrid in their Champions League clash on Wednesday.

City were defeated 3-2 at home in the first leg of their play-off clash last week despite leading 2-1 with just four minutes left in the tie.

“The margin to win at the Bernabeu from that position, everybody knows, the percentage to go through, we arrive at one per cent. Or I don’t know what, but it will be minimal,” said Guardiola.

“But as much as you have a chance we will try, that’s for sure. We are going like we always have done but, this season, the reality is we have been miles away.

“We have been really, really poor in performances and results this season.”

City go to Spain buoyed by a 4-0 win over Newcastle in the Premier League which kept them on course for a return to the Champions League even if this season’s campaign ends on Wednesday.

“For one game, Saturday, we played really good but it’s not going to change the opinion, the reality. But, of course, it’s better to travel to Madrid with this result,” added the City manager.

Pep Guardiola has likened Man City’s upcoming Champions League clash with Real Madrid to a derby, as the two European giants prepare to face off for the fourth consecutive season.

This is just as the Spaniard fears Man City’s bid to knock holders Real Madrid out of the Champions League will be hampered by the gruelling demands of the Premier League schedule.

After beating Club Brugge on Wednesday to scramble into the knockout stages, Guardiola’s side were pitted against the 15-time European champions in Friday’s play-off round draw.

Man City will host Real in the first leg on February 11 or 12 before travelling to Madrid for the return leg a week later.

It is part of a brutal period for City, who travel to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday and have top-flight matches at home to Newcastle and Liverpool either side of the second leg.

They also have an FA Cup fourth round trip to Leyton Orient and a league game at Tottenham in February.

“Well it looks like a derby already, four years in a row facing Madrid,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

“The draw could have been nicer? Yes. Bayern Munich was extremely difficult. Real Madrid difficult, we know that.”

With City battling to qualify for next season’s Champions League, as well as trying to win this year’s tournament, Guardiola will have difficult selection decisions to make throughout the crucial period.

While other European leagues adjust their fixtures to give clubs in the Champions League more time to prepare, the English top flight maintains a hectic schedule throughout the season.

“Normally in the Premier League they always put toughest schedules for teams in Europe,” Guardiola said.

“Schedule the most difficult ones because it is tough to play against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, but the problem is in the middle is Newcastle.”

– Fixture pile-up –

Pressed on whether the Premier League champions deserve more help from domestic authorities over the schedule, Guardiola said: “Are you asking me this daft question after many years? Come on. Don’t ask me to say something impolite.

“Always for many years it has been like this. I remember Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger made the same complaints.

“Do you think it is going to change? The broadcasters decide, they don’t ask me what is better to play.

“I’m not complaining because we won trebles and had incredible success doing that.

“I would love (more time) absolutely. But if you don’t like it, go to another country, don’t be Manchester City manager.”

The draw sets up the fifth two-legged tie between City and Real in the past six seasons.

Real ended City’s Champions League campaign in the quarter-finals last season but City beat Real in the 2022/23 semi-finals on their way to winning the Champions League for the first time.

Guardiola’s hopes of repeating that triumph would be significantly boosted by the return of Rodri.

City have struggled badly without the Spain midfielder, who was initially ruled out for the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury against Arsenal in September.

But the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner has made good progress and believes he can be back before the end of the season.

“He is positive. But ACL is ACL for every football player and every athlete. You have to respect the human body,” Guardiola said.

“To win one month and after have setbacks for the next season is not intelligent. Of course he wants to play tomorrow, I know that. It is going really well. Step by step we respect that.”