Pep Guardiola insists Man City must be ‘more clinical’ to be considered Champions League favourites

City dominated throughout and scored twice on the road but Guardiola wants more from his team

Karl Matchett
Wednesday 24 February 2021 18:04 EST
Comments
(AFP via Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A 19th straight win in all competitions wasn’t enough to satisfy Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who suggested Bayern Munich remain the favourites to retain the Champions League and wants his team to show a more ruthless streak.

His side were largely comfortable in beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in the last-16 first leg on Wednesday night, with Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus netting the goals.

But Guardiola pointed to a series of chances where further goals could have been scored to see the tie effectively wrapped up on the night for Man City.

READ MORE: Champions League knock-out fixtures by date and time

“It was good, we controlled the game. Unfortunately we were not clinical enough up front and it’s something we have to improve in this competition,” Guardiola told BT Sport at full-time.

“The first leg is always difficult but I agree [we should have scored more] - up front we have to be more clinical.

“The situation is clear, one against one, against the ‘keeper or defender and we were not able [to finish them], not even dribbles. You have to be perfect to be sure you can go through.”

City have now face a run of four straight games at home in the Premier League, where they are top of the table and already 10 points clear of their nearest challengers, making them massive favourites to reclaim that particular title.

But Guardiola, who paid tribute to the “intelligent” performance of match-winner Bernardo Silva and praised full-back Joao Cancelo for bringing a “special” quality to the team, doesn’t feel City can yet be claimed to be favourites for silverware in Europe - and isn’t planning on thinking about the second leg just yet.

“When I see Bayern [beating Lazio 4-1] yesterday I wouldn’t think so!

“But my target is just West Ham in three days. It’s a big challenge to recover players and the rest [of the talk]...you accept it.”

City have five domestic matches to take care of before the home leg against ‘Gladbach.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in