Manchester City, Josep Guardiola has said that the club will play the UEFA Champions League last sixteen first leg tie with Borussia Monchengladbach, but the Spaniard vows to respect the Colts.
In the domestic league, the Citizens are leaders, with ten points adrift arch-rival Manchester United. City’s last league was with Arsenal, beating the Gunners 1-0 to extending their winning streak to 18.
But ‘Gladbach are still struggling to secure their place in the top four of the German topflight, as they suffered a home defeat in the hands of Mainz, 2-1 it ended. The German side is nine points behind fourth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt and sixteen points behind league leaders, Bayern Munich.
Despite City having an edge over the Marco Rose- led side, Josep Guardiola
said Monchengladbach must be shown some respects.
But Guardiola said the squad will not change tactical approach when facing Marco Rose’s squad.
“We’re going to prepare it like a normal game and we’re going to tell the players what Gladbach are as a team like we have done against Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton,” Josep Guardiola said
“We’re not going to change anything – just adapt for what they are. We’re not used to playing against them. They must know what they are individually and play a good game to try to get a good result like we have done so far.” he added
Guardiola berated the heavy workload that his squad has involved, charging his squad to be focused
“We chase a lot of competitions. We played two days ago, we arrived late from London and now have a long trip… We have to be focused on what we have to do.”
The former Barcelona coach also said that he is aware of the threats feigned by the German side, as they advanced from the group of death
“They make a good buildup with short passes and can contact with their fast strikers with transitions,” he said.
“All teams deserve incredible respect and hopefully they respect us as well. We’ll try to get a good result for the second leg.”
The match will be played in Budapest with the fixture having been moved due to Germany’s COVID-19 travel restrictions.
