UK Edition
Pep Guardiola tries to provoke Man City atmosphere for Tottenham decider and says he is 'curious' as to how fans will respond
Pep Guardiola has challenged Manchester City’s supporters to prove to him they want to win the Champions League as he once again questioned their appetite for European football’s most prestigious competition.
Guardiola’s comments came as it emerged City are still trying to sell tickets for the second leg of the quarter-final against Tottenham Hotspur, even though it is the prize the manager is under more pressure than any other to win in his third season in England.
Guardiola has often squirmed when asked whether City are good enough to win the Champions League and he looked and sounded uncomfortable when challenged on the subject ahead of the quarter-final second leg against Tottenham Hotspur.
It was not a convincing pre-match media performance from City’s manager, whose answers were nervous and chipped one moment, rambling and distracted the next, as he argued it is now up to the supporters to prove they want the club to reach the semi-finals rather than the players.
It was deliberately provocative, designed to try and create a more intimidating atmosphere inside the Etihad in which to help overturn a 1-0 defeat. The fact City are still trying to sell tickets for the match with just over 24 hours until kick off is not a good sign.
“I want an atmosphere like the Liverpool game [in the Premier League]” said Guardiola. “That would be enough for me, maybe a little bit better. We need it.
“Do it for the guys - the last 20 months, they are so proud with what they have done but they are human beings. They will have bad moments in the games and at that moment we need our supporters.
“At this stage, without supporters, we cannot go through. I'm expecting. I'm really curious to see how our fans are going to react tomorrow, really curious."
“I played many times in that stage, many times I’ve arrived in quarter finals and semi-finals, and every time the support is incredible from the local fans and we need it.
“I want to see that they want to get to the semi-finals, not just the players, the fans too. I want to see that.”
That challenge to the supporters apart, this was not an uplifting experience, although in Guardiola’s defence, he has talked to the media more than any other manager this season because of the sheer number of games his team have been involved in during their pursuit of the quadruple.
And the time for talking is over, with Guardiola knowing the success of City’s season will be defined by their next three fixtures against Spurs, in Europe and the Premier League, followed by the Manchester derby against United.
“I know I have to win the Champions League, the chairman told me I have to win three times in a row - that was his desire,” said Guardiola, sarcastically, when asked if he felt under more pressure to win the Champions League because of the expectations above him.
“But in football you lose more than you win, you try to improve on the next fella and the fella before. We try to do our best and tomorrow we will see [ if City can make a semi-final for the second time].
“Because I didn’t win the Champions League [at Bayern Munich] people say I failed. My teams, when they don’t win the Champions League, they fail all the time.
“I know people say I came here to win the Champions League. I didn’t come here to win the Champions League, honestly.
“I came here to play with my team the way we are playing for the last 20 months, that is what I came here, to play the way I want to play.
“I know in Bayern Munich, a big club, after three seasons winning absolutely everything, the Champions League was a big failure. What can I say? I accept that. I know that. I have to live with that but it’s not a big, big problem, it pushes me better.
“You have to feel I have to win it -if not, it’s not enough. But, also, I accept and understand the other teams are better too, in this competition. A lot of big, big clubs are not in the later stages, so what is important is how you handle 11 months of the season.
“For me the Premier League is for the most important title. Show me every 3 days that you can be there. It is a good message for society, for ourselves, being there every time.
“This is one competition, and we will just put everything, our heart on the pitch, our desire and we will see.”
Tottenham will be without Harry Kane for the second leg, but having lost to Liverpool at the same stage of the competition last year, the pressure is on City this time. Guardiola, though, argued the most important thing was that his team have already qualified to play in the Champions League again next season.
“I’m so proud at what we have done this year with our team in this competition,” Guardiola added. “To mathematically qualify for the competition next season, this is an incredible success for us.
“Next season we will be there at the draw in Monaco in August and that’s incredible. I want to congratulate my team and my staff because we’ll be there again. It doesn’t matter what happens tomorrow, next year we will be there again.
“If we don’t win these games [against Spurs this week], we will be out of two competitions. We are either going to go through or we are going to prepare for the FA Cup Final and next season.
“These are absolute finals for us. Last season, in this period we were already champions. But this season we have an incredible opponent in the Premier League, Liverpool.
“Normally the title is won with 84, 86 points. They have 85 with games left. So, both teams deserve to be champions, but one is going to get it.”