Pep’s ready to renew battle with ‘excellent’ Pochettino
PEP Guardiola says no-one should be fooled by the fact that Mauricio Pochettino has yet to collect a major trophy in his 12 years as a manager.
The two lock horns at the Etihad tonight in what could well be a dress rehearsal for next season’s Manchester derbies, with the PSG boss favourite to succeed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford.
City’s meeting with the French side is not exactly high stakes considering both are clear of Club Bruges and RB Leipzig in the group, but a draw or Blues win would leave PSG needing a point from their final game against the Belgians in order to join Guardiola’s men in the knockout phase.
A City defeat would mean they would have to go to RB Leipzig in a fortnight still seeking a draw to be sure of going through. Pochettino has been in charge at PSG almost a year. He failed to win Ligue 1 last season but did claim the French Cup, with City beating them in the Champions League semi-final along the way.
With no trophies at Espanyol Southampton or Tottenham, the Argentine would, on the face of it, seem to be an odd choice to become the latest man given the task of loosening Guardiola’s grip on Manchester football.
But Pochettino is top of the Reds’ list as they seek a new manager, and appears willing to jump ship at the Parc Des Princes.
For now, he is focussed on trying to get the better of Guardiola again, after besting him in PSG’s 2-0 win in the first group game, and his KO of the Blues at the quarter-final stage in 2019, when he took Spurs to their first final in the competition.
And the City boss believes Pochettino will be an even more dangerous opponent than he was then, saying: “I’m pretty sure the managers get better. every season we go through you have a lot of learning every season, I’m sure he’s an excellent manager.
“You can be a top manager without titles.
“The managers who have the chance to win are at top, top clubs with good investment and exceptional players, otherwise it’s impossible to win.
“That doesn’t mean the managers in the top six cannot be excellent managers in communication, the way they lead, it’s not
Everyone knows the quality and personality PSG and their players have. It will be different to against Everton
necessary to win titles to be a top manager.
“It’s different - different countries, players, shapes, even with the same manager and same team it can be different in one year.
“New players, the situation is different. Completely different to Tottenham when he was there.”
One thing of which Guardiola can be sure is that the Blues will face an entirely different challenge than that presented by Rafa Benitez’s
Everton on Sunday, with the Merseysiders sitting deep and seeking to counter. With a likely front three of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, PSG are sure to play on the front foot, and that should make for a more open game.
“When we face one team we have all different ways to face - in six years, how many games have we played? Some aggressive, some sit back and I know them,” added Guardiola.
“Everyone knows the quality and personality that PSG and their players have.
“It will be different to the last game against Everton, with the players they have – I’m not judging them, the players we face are very different.”