WE’LL BE KILLED IF WE LOSE, PEP WARNS CITY STARS

PEP GUARDIOLA puts his Champions League record on the line at the Etihad tonight warning that Manchester City’s critics will ‘kill’ them if they lose to Monaco. Guardiola has never failed to reach the semi-finals of the competition in seven attempts as coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, winning it twice while in charge at the Nou Camp. But the City manager is only too aware of the threat posed by Monaco, the French Ligue 1 leaders and the highest scoring team in any of Europe’s major leagues. City’s opponents in the last 16 beat Tottenham home and away in this season’s group stage and have progressed on the last four occasions they have faced English clubs in a two-legged tie. The pressure is on Guardiola’s side to produce a big performance in tonight’s first leg, and he urged his players to rise to the occasion or face the consequences. ‘It’s not easy to be here,’ he said. ‘This club knows that perfectly. The recent history is quite good but the long history, Manchester City was not here for a long time. I’d like to convince the players to enjoy the moment because it is beautiful. ‘All of Europe will watch us. They will analyse us — and kill us if we don’t win. ‘People can think with City, England, the most prestigious football, the most media, most advertising in the world, you have to be here. But a lot of big clubs are not here. You have to live that situation. We are lucky guys.’ Inspired by a rejuvenated Radamel Falcao, Monaco have scored 76 goals in 26 league games to move three points clear of Paris Saint-Germain, who rocked Guardiola’s old club Barcelona 4-0 last week. He said: ‘I don’t need a result like PSG-Barcelona to realise how good French football is. How physical they are. My opinion about Monaco before the game and after remains the same. ‘It is the most successful team in Europe in terms of scoring goals.’