LONDON: “I won two, but I lost seven”: Pep Guardiola is not ready to take the role of favourite in the Champions League, even after the fireworks of Manchester City Tuesday against Schalke (7 -0).
The Catalan, two winners of the competition with Barcelona, has been constant since the beginning of the week to extinguish any form of a runaway. He is, after all, only the coach of a teenager club in adult competition.
But even after early eliminations in 2017 and 2018, can he still really hide after the 7-0 Etihad Stadium?
“It was unlikely that many people would still swallow Pep Guardiola’s too modest description of his team, and no one would believe it after that,” the Times wrote Wednesday, summarizing the general opinion in the British press.
“We can not expect a team to win a competition that welcomes the best teams in the world, with the unpredictability of a cup, (…) but City now has an opportunity he does not ever had, “continues the daily. “Because if they’re just teenagers, they’re incredibly talented, as Schalke’s dismantling showed.”
“When I say that we are a teenage team, that does not mean that we will not fight,” Guardiola said after the match.
“Teenagers have the passion, the will and they are not afraid, it’s good to be in the quarter again,” he added, while tempering: “The best result of this club, is a semifinal, Real Madrid have won thirteen times, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, how much have they won? ”
Still, against the German club, certainly in perdition, the champions of England have played with the same mastery as last season, reviving the crazy idea of a quadruple at the end of the season.
Coupe de la Ligue already in pocket, this “Grand Slam” does indeed seem more completely impossible.
