Mercury (Hobart)

Guardiola prepared for worst

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PEP Guardiola has claimed Manchester City could sack him if they fail to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The Premier League champions face the Spanish giants in the last 16 of this season’s competitio­n with the first leg taking place at the Bernabeu on February 26.

City sacking Guardiola is an unlikely scenario given his outstandin­g record at the club, but the former Barcelona boss neverthele­ss recognises it does exist because of the high expectatio­ns at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola has won five major trophies with City, including two Premier League titles, but has failed to take the club beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League in three previous attempts.

Guardiola told Sky Sports: “I want to win the Champions League. I dream [of it] and I will enjoy preparing for the games against Madrid, to see what we can do and this process, two weeks before, will be the happiest moments of my profession, to imagine what we can do to beat them.

“If we don’t beat them, OK, come the chairman or the sport director and say, ‘It’s not good enough, we want the Champions League, I’m going to sack you.’ “OK, [I’d say], ‘Thank you, it was a pleasure’.

“I don’t know [if this would happen]. It has happened many times.”

Guardiola, who is very demanding in terms of the style of football his teams play, feels it is unfair to judge managers solely on the trophies they win. He said: “We give a bad, bad message for the new generation, for our kids, to just count the winner, the trophies to win.

“If you win the Champions League it will be exceptiona­l. Why? It is difficult to win it.”

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