Pep Guardiola has said for the first time that if Manchester City do not win the Champions League under him, his highly successful tenure will “not be complete”.
Since becoming City manager in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has won five Premier League titles, four league cups and the FA Cup. But he is yet to lead the club to the Champions League title and has previously always played down the importance of doing so.
Guardiola signed a one-year contract extension last month with an option to extend it until 2025, and he was asked if winning Europe’s most important club competition had been a motivating factor in that decision.
“It’s not the only one but I admit it’s the trophy we want and my period here will not be complete if we don’t win it,” he said. “But that’s not the only reason [I signed]. I will do everything in the time we have together to win it but I’d say the same before [signing]. It’s the trophy we don’t have and we’ll try to do it. I have the feeling they [City] will get it sooner or later. We’ve tried in the past, even in the first season, even though we went out in the last 16. So we will try with all our strength.”
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City are back in action on Thursday night for the first time since the break in domestic football for the World Cup when they host Liverpool in the Carabao Cup last-16 tie. While five of Liverpool’s squad were in Qatar compared to 16 of City’s, with Julián Álvarez yet to return after being a member of Argentina’s triumphant team, Guardiola has no concerns about a tournament hangover.
“I have the feeling that those who were at the World Cup are in better condition than players who weren’t; the players who didn’t go lack rhythm, the ones who come back have been competing and trained every day,” he said.
“Players who were not at the World Cup and who play can get the rhythm tomorrow so we have to do it with what we have. Step by step they come back – we have six players back [already] and are happy they are back, in general they played really well and had an incredible experience.”
While the England players – Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips and John Stones – were among those back in training on Wednesday – Guardiola congratulated Álvarez, who ended the tournament with four goals.
Guardiola said: “For Julián, we are delighted. He played a lot and his contribution was amazing for the team, for the way they played. We have a world champion in our team. “We are incredibly happy for him. Congratulations to him, for Nico Otamendi and, of course, personally for Leo Messi.”
Messi’s victory cements his place among the greatest players the game has ever seen. For Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Messi at Barcelona, that issue had never been in doubt.
“Everyone has an opinion but nobody can doubt he’s there. I’ve said many times, for me, he’s the best. It is difficult to understand how a player can appear and do what he’s done in the last 10-15 years. The people who saw Pele or Di Stéfano, or Maradona – they can say their favourites.
“In these opinions, they can have a sentimental approach. If he’d not won the World Cup, my opinion about what he has done for world football would not change, but it is normal for people that it depends on if they win. For him it is the final achievement of an incredible career.”
