Hot Newsslotbet Pep Guardiola Calls Champions League Format 'Incredible Lesson' After Narrow Play-off Qualification
Pep Guardiola looks on during Wednesday's game Pep Guardiola looks on during Wednesday's game Pep Guardiola is not sold on the new Champions League format after Manchester City narrowly scraped through to the play-offsslotbet, but he believes the experience has been an "incredible lesson". (More Sports News)
City had to come from behind in Wednesday's must-win clash with Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium, as Raphael Onyedika's strike put them on the brink of a humiliating exit.
Mateo Kovacic and Savinho scored either side of a Joel Ordonez own goal in the second half, though, as City progressed to the Champions League's knockout rounds for a 12th successive season.
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain are the only other teams to achieve that feat in every campaign since 2013-14.
But City finished an underwhelming 22nd in the new-look, 36-team table, behind the likes of Celtic, Feyenoord, Brest, PSV and Lille.
"I would say I don't like it, because we suffer a lot," said Guardiola of the new format, after City finished with three wins and two draws from eight matches.
"We were on the perch, 45 minutes to be out. It is an incredible lesson for me and the players that nothing is for granted."
City will face either Bayern or Madrid in a heavyweight play-off tie, with the draw to be made in Switzerland on Friday.
While City's form this season does not bode well for a meeting with one of those sides, Guardiola will at least have reinforcements available.
New signings Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis were not eligible to play in the league phase but will be eligible for City's play-off tie, while they will also hope to recover a selection of injured players.
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The team led by Ammad Butt, finally secured their first victory with a 2-1 win over Japan and then delivered a decisive 5-1 win against China, to enter the semi-finals. Their final pool match ended in a narrow 2-1 loss to India.
"In two weeks we will be better," Guardiola said. "Players will come back, we have new signings."
new casino no deposit bonus 2022Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti said he would prefer to avoid a meeting with City after Los Blancos beat Brest 3-0, but Guardiola was cautious regarding City's chances.
"I don't know if they are happy to play against us, it is what it is. One is the king of the competition, the other is the second or third king," Guardiola said of Madrid, who have 15 European titles and Bayern, who have six.
"We play this competition with a thousand million problems. They are favourites, yes, they are better than us right now."
Commenting on City's fightback, Guardiola said: "The first half was so academic, we missed a spark, Savinho helped us. He changed the game, after five minutes created two or three corners.
"Sometimes you are winning 2-0 or 3-0, you are scared to lose. You are 1-0 down, out of the Champions League, and in the right moments we found the goals."
Brugge also snuck into the play-offs despite their loss, finishing 24th on goal difference as Stuttgart dropped out.
They will face either Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund in the next round.slotbet