Pep Guardiola says it will not easy to reach the final of the Champions League, but admits his Manchester City team are high on confidence at the moment.
Despite such a promising 2020/21 Champions League campaign, it all ended in heartbreak for Manchester City – narrowly losing out to Chelsea in the final.
The scars of that night in Porto may still be there for some of the players, but they will have to put them to one side and travel back to the same country to take on Sporting CP in the last-16 of this year’s competition.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference before his side take on the Portuguese giants, Pep Guardiola was asked if this was the year his team go one step further and finally get their hands on that illustrious Champions League trophy.
“To go better than last season isn’t easy,” Guardiola began.
“We’re excited and happy to be at this stage. I know how important the Champions League is, but we take seriously every Premier League game, we saw how tough Norwich was. Confidence always was high, not just now, the previous seasons.”
The ultimate aim of Guardiola’s appointment at the Etihad Stadium was to achieve European glory, but it is the same old question that is asked of him every time his side reaches the knockout rounds.
Guardiola, however, does not care one bit about media noise.
“Ask whatever you want, as many times as you want. It doesn’t bother me, it means we are here in the Champions League,” the Catalan explained.
“It’s an honour to travel to Portugal to try and win the game. On the pitch we take chances, the rest is open to read and write. As much as we want or don’t want, it’s the players on the pitch.”
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