Guardiola wants to use Champions League pain to spur City’s league pursuit
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that the team should use their Champions League disappointment as a motivation to push for the Premier League title. The Mancunian giants recently bowed out of the Champions League to Tottenham Hotspur on the away goal rule after their quarter-final clash ended with a 4-4 aggregate score.
Speaking in a news conference, Guardiola said that the players have yet to fully overcome the disappointment of exiting the Champions League at the last eight stage. However, he added that the players can use the same as a motivation factor when they face Mauricio Pochettino’s side again in the Premier League this weekend.
He said: “If you believe it doesn’t hurt, or forget it, I’d say no. I want to see my players know what they did on Wednesday. It will take time [to get over] and we have to live with that feeling. But what we lived was incredible, we were lucky to live it. There is not an activity in this world you can put in these limits. We have to live with these situations, accept them. It will be on our minds, but looking back it will help us to move forward. These players have the opportunity to show they can do that.”
“The Citizens are currently two points behind Liverpool in the race for the Premier League crown“ but they have a game in hand to nullify the deficit. Nonetheless, their run-in remains much tougher with “the likes of Tottenham“ and Manchester United to face in back-to-back matches and they can afford no slip-ups with the Reds aiming to pounce.
City may have lost the opportunity to secure a maiden Champions League crown but they can still celebrate a domestic treble when the season concludes. The Citizens have already won the League Cup and they are currently into the FA Cup final, where they are scheduled to face Watford at the Wembley Stadium.