BEHIND BARCA
Pep: We are still second best
PEP GUARDIOLA says Man City remain in the shadow of Barcelona – despite being Champions League favourites.
Guardiola led former club Barca to two European Cup wins during a glittering four-year spell and is aiming to take City to the same exalted level.
They take a 4-0 lead into tonight’s last-16, second leg tie at home to Basel and are set to reach the quarter-finals for only the second time.
But Guardiola insisted City, who are four wins away from securing the Premier League title, are not on a par with Barca.
He said: “They won a lot in the past, but we are new. We’ve won one title, so it’s not possible to compare.
“It’s not good for us to compare ourselves with one team. That Barcelona team dominated the last decade, 15 to 20 years, with different managers, different players.
“We’ve just won our first title, the EFL Cup. To join these kind of teams, you have to be there a long time.”
Guardiola added: “We’re almost in the quarter-finals of the Champions League and we’re almost the Premier League champions.
“But we’re not in the quarter-finals yet, we’re not champions, that’s why we have to be calm – that is the best advice I can give to my players.
“If people say we’re favourites for the Champions League, it’s because so far we’ve done really good. But against Wigan, one action, the red card for Fabian Delph. Then Alex Zinchenko on Victor Moses against Chelsea, it was orange – it could have been yellow or red.
“If it’s red, you’re out of the Champions League.”
Raheem Sterling, absent with a hamstring injury for three weeks, could return to the squad tonight.