On the eve of the Champions League match against Bayern, the City coach uses irony towards his colleague
“Naples? I don’t want to talk about them, otherwise their coach will get angry with me. He is so sensitive ”. Pep Guardiola says it with a smile, when in the press conference on the eve of the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals he is asked if it is better to face a team used to this level like Bayern, who City will face tomorrow at 9pm Italians, or one that is doing well like that of Luciano Spalletti, who many in England consider among the favourites, but who is facing the top levels of the competition for the first time. General laughter, first of all from Pep, before the coach who is chasing his first Champions League in Manchester begins to explain why in this competition, the more you play at high levels and against great opponents, the easier it becomes.
BAYERN
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Bayern are just that: a great opponent. A team that Guardiola coached (“A train that passed and that I couldn’t not take, I don’t regret anything I did”) and which is now led by Thomas Tuchel, ready to make his Champions League debut at the helm of the Germans after two victories in two matches in the Bundesliga. “Creativity is his most important feature as a coach – says Pep of the coach against whom he lost the 2021 final -. His teams always attack very well and tomorrow maybe he’ll come up with something new. Bayern have great quality in every department: it will be as difficult to face them with Tuchel as it would have been if Nagelsmann had remained. But we have to focus on us, on how to improve the team. And how to be ready when it’s time to take the field.”
CHAMPIONS
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It is the main thing in the race for the Champions League, the trophy that is still missing from the collection that Guardiola brought to City. “In this competition it doesn’t matter how you are playing, it doesn’t matter how many goals you scored 3 days ago: it only matters how you play when you take the field – explains the Spanish coach in the City press room which overlooks the splendid Etihad Campus, the citadel of sport which surrounds the stadium and where the champions of England train-. You have to be perfect when you take the field, when the referee blows his whistle, and I can prepare the game in the best possible way but I have no way of knowing if we will be.” Pep confirms his Champions League obsession, when he is aware that it will be judged whether he manages to win it or not: “When I arrived in Manchester, everyone immediately told me that I was here for that – he says -. I understand, we’ve tried every year, but you’re up against excellent teams who, like you, want to win. And you don’t always succeed. In sport, in any sport, you lose more than you win: the important thing, however, is to be here at this stage of the competition, still in the running to win. For me, it’s the greatest compliment we can receive.”
HIGHLIGHT MOMENT
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The obsession with the Champions League is shared by the players. “This is a special competition, especially for us who want to win it – says Ruben Dias, who preceded Guardiola in the press conference -. With Bayern it will be a difficult challenge, but this is the essence of the Champions League: big matches in which you have to try and beat the best teams.” The Portuguese defender, who will find his friend João Cancelo again (“We talk often, but when the match starts everyone will give their all for their team”) is also convinced that City’s extra gear could be the habit of difference when it matters most. “In the last two years we have always been ready in the decisive moments: we know that we have done well so far, but also that we have not done anything yet because we have not won. We’re still in the running and we’ll keep trying.”
April 10 – 3.46pm
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