Pep Guardiola
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola wants to emulate his success with Barcelona in European's elite competition but admits form doesn't always count.
Pep Guardiola declared he wants to win the Champions League "a lot" with Manchester City, as his side prepares for a mouthwatering quarter-final tie against his old side Bayern Munich. Guardiola won Europe's biggest prize twice in four years with Barcelona but has failed to win it in his last nine attempts, three with Bayern and six with Bayern.
"I want to [win it] a lot. We want to try. It is an honour to be here against an elite club in Bayern Munich. We will not take it for granted," Guardiola told a press conference ahead of Tuesday's first leg at the Etihad. "The question has been coming every single season. I understand that. We try every single season. Teams you face are also good and want to win too. My dream is to live it again. We want to try but that doesn't mean we are going to win."
Guardiola has endured a series of painful defeats with City, going out on away goals to Monaco in 2017 and Tottenham in 2019, being stunned by Lyon in 2020, losing the final to Chelsea in 2021 and then blowing a two-goal lead in the last few minutes against Real Madrid last year. He added: "In this competition it's not about the form, it counts how you perform for 95 minutes, it doesn't count what you have done three days ago, in this competition you have to be perfect then."
