Premier League: Declan Rice, Guardiola’s most expensive setback
Pep Guardiola is one of the best coaches in the world today. Only that this chair is increasingly challenged by the simple fact that he has not managed to win the Champions League since he left Barcelona, a situation that the Spanish coach is trying to remedy.
Guardiola renewed his contract with Manchester City on November 23 until 2025. And this Thursday, City faces Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool in the round of 16 of the Carabao Cup, the English League Cup, which will try to add to the 9 major trophies he has won since his arrival in 2016 (four Premiership, one FA Cup, four League Cups and two Community Shields), but no European title. But there is still a lack, as the “Citizens” lost the Champions League final 2020-21 against Chelsea and in the last edition they lost in the semifinals against Real Madrid.
When asked about it, Guardiola admitted: “It’s not the only goal, but I admit it’s the trophy we want and my time here will not be complete if we don’t win it. I will do everything during our time together, but I would say the same as before. This is the trophy we don’t have and we are going to try to get it. I have the feeling that they will get it sooner or later”.
As a reminder, this season, the Skyblues of Manchester City will face Leipzig in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Better still, Pep Guardiola’s team aims to become the fifth team to win three consecutive English championships. And for this, he must count on a full squad after the World Cup.
And on this point, Nathan Aké, Manuel Akanji and the Spanish internationals Rodri and Aymeric Laporte have resumed training this week after their World Cup run. They join Kevin de Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan, Erling Haaland and Riyad Mahrez as the only first team players to face the Reds.
