GUARDIOLA IN A HURRY TO SEAL SWEET 16 SPOT

HERE’S A FEW POINTERS: Pep Guardiola gives Kevin De Bruyne advice

PEP GUARDIOLA has told his players to all but seal their last- 16 place tonight – so they can switch their focus to the Premier League.

Manchester City can make it three wins from three games in Group C with victory over Greek champions Olympiacos at the Etihad Stadium.

That would take Guardiola’s side to nine points and virtually clinch their place in the knockout stage, allowing them to concentrate on their domestic agenda.

City are currently mid- table in the Premier League, five points behind champions Liverpool who they host on Sunday, with a game in hand on Jurgen Klopp’s side.

After beating Porto and Marseille 3- 1 and 3- 0, Guardiola has urged his players to seize their chance to make it a hat- trick of wins.

“It’s a tricky competition, that’s why I’m delighted with what we’ve done so far in the Champions League,” said the Spaniard.

“That’s also why we cannot miss this chance to get nine points and be in a position where we need just one more step and we’ll be in the 16 best teams in Europe.

“People don’t believe it, but it’s difficult every game.

“It doesn’t matter where you go, you have to play a good game to beat teams, the same at home as well.

“People say it’s easy and they predict the teams who will go through, but everything can happen. That’s why we have to focus on what we have to do. It’s a big opportunity for us, a huge opportunity for us to make an incredible step and we cannot get away from that.”

Guardiola, a two- time Champions League winner as Barcelona boss, reckons the tournament is harder to win now than his last triumph was in 2011.

“Today the competition is not like a decade ago,” he added. “When I started as a manager in this competition, qualifying was much easier than it is now.

“Teams are better, there’s more money everywhere, not just in a few clubs. A lot of clubs have the money to buy important players and important managers.

“Last season we played Atalanta and people said, ‘ It’s only Atalanta’, but they got close to the semi- finals and this season they are near the top of the Italian league too.

“When we drew with Shakhtar Donetsk, people said, ‘ Oh it’s easy’, but Shakhtar won in Madrid and drew with Inter.”