Pep warns City stars not to lose their heads

ONLY a collapse of epic proportions can stop Manchester City from reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League tonight, but Pep Guardiola still feels it is necessary to warn his players just in case. City have a four-goal lead and home advantage against Swiss underdogs Basle, suggesting the second leg of their last-16 tie will be a formality. However, Guardiola is wary of the threat that red cards could pose to his team’s progress, both tonight and in the later stages of the competition. He pointed to Fabian Delph’s sending-off in the FA Cup defeat to Wigan, and Oleksandr Zinchenko’s good fortune in only receiving a yellow card for his challenge on Chelsea’s Victor Moses on Sunday, as examples of incidents that could prove costly in Europe. ‘A Champions League game is special,’ said Guardiola. ‘Everything can happen — a red card or they can score one or two. ‘If what happened in Wigan happens in Europe — with the red after 44 minutes — you don’t win the Champions League. ‘Zinchenko on Moses was an ‘‘orange’’. It could be yellow or red. If it’s red, you are out of the Champions League.’ Red cards have cost City in the past, notably when they were knocked out two years in a row by Barcelona after Martin Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta and Gael High spirits: Sane and Sterling Clichy saw red in three of the four legs. Last season, City lost 4-0 to Barcelona after Claudio Bravo was dismissed. The Spaniard also said that City cannot be compared to his old club. He added: ‘We are almost in the quarterfinals and almost champions, but we are not there in either. That is why we have to be calm. That’s the best advice I can give to my players.’ The City boss, who is boosted by the return of Raheem Sterling from inury, will wear a yellow ribbon tonight because UEFA rules allow it. This comes after being charged by the FA for wearing it in domestic games. FA chief Martin Glenn has apologised for comparing the Star of David to the Nazi swastika when discussing the issue, and Guardiola believes he did not realise the ribbon is in support of four jailed politicians and not Catalan independence. Guardiola said: ‘He didn’t understand, I’m sure he will now.’