Pep’s proud of his rivals’ Euro results
PEP Guardiola has spent the last two seasons trying to outfox them but is delighted to see other Premier League teams do well in Europe.
After years of underperformance in continental competition the English sides are looking good; Liverpool followed City’s example in midweek with a big away win against Porto while Spurs fought back to take a score draw back to Wembley for their second leg against Juventus.
Even before United and Chelsea play the first legs of their last-16 ties against Sevilla and Barcelona respectively, the Premier League should be well represented in the quarter-finals.
Whatever it means for the long-term chances of English teams in Europe, Guardiola is happy to see his domestic rivals doing well. “Now I feel English,” he said. “Being in this competition I feel part of this league and it’s great news for this country that three teams got great results in the Champions League.
“We will see next week what Manchester United and Chelsea will do but we must see in the future if there is a change or not – if in four or five years we see English teams in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals.
“But it is great news. Two teams are almost in the quarter-finals.
“Tottenham got a great result in Turin but they have to try and perform again at home against Juventus in the second leg.”