- Guardiola admitted he is desperate to win UCL again
- Manager has not lifted trophy since 2011 with Barca
- He lost 2021 final to Tuchel's Chelsea
WHAT HAPPENED? Pep Guardiola declared he wants to win the Champions League "a lot" with Manchester City, as his side prepare 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.
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WHAT THEY SAID: "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."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: 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."
AND WHAT'S MORE: Guardiola referred to the bizarre war of words he had with Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti last month. Asked whether Napoli had the necessary experience to win the competition this season, the manager said: "I don't want to talk about Napoli otherwise the manager will be grumpy with me. So sensitive in Italy."
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT: Manchester City host Bayern at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday and then continue their pursuit of Premier League leaders Arsenal when they host Leicester on Saturday.