Guardiola urges Man City to build on win against Barcelona

MANCHESTER City had established a benchmark for future Champions League success with their stirring 3-1 comeback win over his former club Barcelona, PEP Guardiola said.

City lost the reverse fixture 4-0 two weeks ago, during a run of six games without a win, and fell behind in the 21st minute of Tuesday’s game to a stunning breakaway goal by Lionel Messi.

But Ilkay Gundogan’s brace and a Kevin de Bruyne free-kick earned City a stunning Group C victory that Guardiola hopes will arm them for future contests in Europe’s elite competition.

Barcelona briefly threatened to run riot after Messi’s goal, only for Sergi Roberto’s overhit pass to allow Raheem Sterling to tee up Gundogan for a 39th-minute equaliser.

De Bruyne’s free kick early in the second half put City ahead and with Barcelona unable to handle their intensity, they struck again through Gundogan to seal victory in the 74th minute.

While Guardiola was thrilled by his side’s victory, which left them two points below leaders Barcelona in Group C, he said their guerilla tactics were not suited to long-term success.

“The [first] 38 minutes [show] we cannot compete with the best teams in the world,” he said.

“This club was 25, 30 years out of Europe. These kind of clubs -Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and so on -- are playing every year. They were at home.

“You need time. I know people don’t have time. But maybe today is a good step to say once in our lives we play against the best team and we compete well.”

“Maybe in a different way. We play more long balls because still we are not ready to keep the ball.

“We are not ready. Because they are 25 years playing that way, we are three or four months. Sometimes we have to compete a little bit in a different way.

“For future generations, they’re going to realise, ‘Wow, these guys were able to beat the best team and we have to do it again’.”

The win, City’s first against Barcelona after five straight defeats, means they can secure a place in the last 16 with victory at Borussia Moenchengladbach in their penultimate game.

Beaten manager Luis Enrique, Guardiola’s former Barcelona teammate, was unable to explain his team’s capitulation after what he said was “one of the best 40 minutes we have played”.

Barcelona were missing players Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and captain Andres Iniesta, among others, but Enrique said their absences had not been a factor.

On his team’s mistakes, he said: “They’re normal things that happen in the game.

“But [City] played very well, pressured aggressively and provoked more errors from us than we did from them.” – AFP