Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has again cast doubt on the Premier League champions’ readiness to win the Champions League for the first time despite being favourites for the competition. City host Bundesliga strugglers Schalke today with a 3-2 first leg lead in their last 16 tie hoping to avoid the pitfalls that did for Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in Champions League shocks last week.
Guardiola admitted even he was taken aback by Manchester United’s stunning 3-1 win in Paris and holders Madrid’s capitulation to a talented young Ajax team, but refuted suggestions their elimination had cleared the way for City to finally conquer Europe.
“We are teenagers in this competition that’s my feeling. It’s not excuses, of course we want to win it,” said the Catalan coach. “You have to dream and point as high as possible but in the same time you have to accept there are other teams thinking the same with a lot of quality and lot of talent.”
Guardiola was annoyed by City’s mistakes in conceding two penalties and having Nicolas Otamendi sent off 22 minutes from time in Gelsenkirchen three weeks ago despite turning around a 2-1 deficit with 10 men through late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling.
And he used that experience to warn his players against any complacency. “In domestic competition there is another game, in this competition there is not another game. It is something unique, the focus is incredible and when you make something wrong they (the opponent) punish it,” he added.
“Schalke had two shots on target and scored two goals. We played 23 minutes 10 v 11 when we could avoid that second yellow card from Nico. We are lucky today we are here 3-2 up when we could be 3-1 or 4-1 down. That’s the reality in this competition. (There is) work to do, be calm and focused.”
Along with the suspended Otamendi, Fernandinho will again miss out through injury, but the Brazilian’s absence has not been felt as badly as first feared due to Ilkay Gundogan’s form. The German has deputised ably in the holding midfield role, but has so far refused to commit his future to City beyond his current contract, which expires in 2020.
Meanwhile, Schalke head coach Domenico Tedesco is barely hanging onto his job and confidence at rock bottom. The Germans had shrugged off dreadful league form to produce a battling display against City in the first leg. However, Schalke’s fortunes have nose-dived since, leaking 11 goals in three heavy defeats to leave them four points from the Bundesliga relegation places. Tedesco, 33, has been told he has two games to prove himself.
Schalke’s new sporting director Jochen Schneider says only good performances at City and home to third-placed RB Leipzig next Saturday can save Tedesco. Man City have won their last nine games at the Etihad Stadium, but the Schalke squad are hoping for an unlikely away victory and want Tedesco to stay on.
“Of course we do — no one has ever said anything different,” said striker Guido Burgstaller. Despite playing well for 55 minutes at Werder Bremen on Friday, Schalke eventually lost 4-2 with Swiss striker Breel Embolo scoring the visitors’ goals.
“No points, no big improvement. Hard times are waiting for us,” admitted Austrian Burgstaller glumly, looking ahead to the game in Manchester. “Things won’t get easier, we have to be prepared for that.”
Morale in the Schalke squad is so low after Friday’s defeat that all the talk was on avoiding relegation, with the prospect of facing the Premier League leaders in their own backyard barely registering.
“This is not a pleasure trip,” says Schneider. “The anticipation is overshadowed by the situation in the Bundesliga.”
Defeat in Bremen came on the back of last weekend’s 4-0 thumping at home to Fortuna Duesseldorf and a 3-0 defeat at Mainz — three losses against mediocre mid-table opposition.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. (Reuters)
