The manager of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has said he was able to sleep on Monday night, a night before the Champions League game between City and Paris Saint Germain when he stopped thinking of Neymar and PSG.
Since Pep Guardiola has been the manager of Manchester City in 2016, he has not been able to take the club to the semi-final stage of the Champions League until this season.
Unfortunately for the Premier League club, Pep Guardiola and his boys would have to play against in-form Paris Saint Germain that knocked out FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich to get to the semi-final stage of the competition this season.
With this credential, Guardiola with his enormous experience in the Champions League, could not help but acknowledge the quality in the French Ligue one Champions.
Though PSG have been unstoppable in the Champions League, the club has not been having the best time in the French league. They are currently second on the league table, a point behind first-placed Lille.
While Manchester City have been unstoppable in both the Champions League and the Premier League. Pep Guardiola and his boys are topping the league game, 10 points above second-placed Manchester United. They have two games to win before they can be crowned Premier League champions.
Ahead of the first leg of the Champions League semi-final game between PSG and Manchester City, Pep Guardiola said: “I remember watching clips of Neymar and thinking this is the king of Santos [Neymar’s first club in Brazil],” Guardiola added. “The players had their mouths open. If Neymar had stayed at Barcelona, they would have won two or three Champions League more. Him, [Lionel] Messi, and [Luis] Suarez were the best upfront. He makes football a pleasure.
“I try to sleep well last night and I slept when I was not thinking about the PSG players like that. We will try and stop them by defending as a team and playing well as a team. We will have to adjust something of course, but at the same time, it wouldn’t make any sense not to be who we are.
“It is normal to adjust, as we will against [Wilfried] Zaha against Crystal Palace.”
Ready for #ucl action tomorrow 💪
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 27, 2021
🔷 #ManCity | https://t.co/axa0klUGiM pic.twitter.com/ci4dk2ccaB
“I don’t want to win tomorrow, I don’t want to go to a final”, Pep Guardiola said.
Pep Guardiola is expected to be the first coach to win the Champions League but he said he is not looking forward to winning the first leg of the semi-final round against PSG. “I don’t want to go to a final. The dream is to be ourselves,” Guardiola said.
However, the Spanish tactician said though winning the Premier League title is important, winning the Champions League for Manchester City would be the nicest.
“We know we are going to suffer in both games and they are going to have chances”, he added. “Everyone knows the quality they have. But in the semi-finals of the Champions League, what do you expect? But at the same time are we going to spend 90 minutes thinking about this player or that player? You have to enjoy the pressure and the situation.
“We are not in the elite of this competition, but we want to be there for sure. The owners, when they took over, wanted to take us there in England first, and we are lucky to live where we are now. I am incredibly happy to travel to Paris with this club to try and win and then to Crystal Palace to try and win one of the two games that we need to win the title.
“The Premier League is the most important one, but the Champions League is the nicest one I think. Everyone is fit, ready, and happy. We are all grateful to have this opportunity. At some clubs this is normal, some have many Champions Leagues and this is normal, but for us it is new and we are grateful for it. It is incredible, it is so nice to go to Paris.”
💬 PEP: Football is unpredictable. You can have more chances and lose. And have better stats and lose. That is why football is fantastic. We will try and do our game. Bayern tried to attack and PSG tried to attack and when that happens, football is nice.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 27, 2021
