The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Guardiola: I could be sacked for Real defeat
Boss claims board might dismiss him if he is unable to put old foes out of Europe
Pep Guardiola has claimed Manchester City could sack him if they fail to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The Premier League champions face the Spanish giants in the last 16 of this season’s competition with the first leg taking place at the Bernabeu on February 26.
City sacking Guardiola is an unlikely scenario given his outstanding record at the club, but the former Barcelona boss nevertheless recognises the threat does exist due to the high expectations at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola has won five major trophies with City, including two Premier League titles, but has failed to take the club beyond the quarter-finals of the Champions League in three previous attempts.
Guardiola told Sky Sports: “I want to win the Champions League.
“I dream (of it) and I will enjoy preparing for the games against Madrid, to see what we can do and this process, two weeks before, will be the happiest moments of my profession, to imagine what we can do to beat them. If we don’t beat them, OK, come the chairman or the sport director and say, ‘It’s not good enough, we want the Champions League, I’m going to sack you.’
“OK, (I’d say), ‘Thank you, it was a pleasure’. I don’t know (if this would happen).
“It has happened many times and could maybe happen.”
Guardiola, who is very demanding in terms of the style of football his teams play, feels it is unfair to judge managers solely on the trophies they win.
He said: “We give a bad, bad message for the new generation, for our kids, to just count the winner, the trophies to win.
“You say the season is a disaster but if you win the Champions League it will be exceptional.
“Why? It is difficult to win it.
“If you don’t, we can say in more than 100 years of history (there) were 100 failure seasons for Manchester City. That is not true.
“Always the people believe like you are Pep or Jurgen (Klopp), or another name, you have to win all the titles every season and (get) 2,000 million points, (score) 2,000 million goals. “Sometimes it is not possible.
“All the times, in no sport, (has) one team won every season all the time. It’s impossible.”
City are back in action on Wednesday with the postponed Premier League match with West Ham rearranged.
The clash at the Etihad Stadium was due to be played on Sunday but was called off on grounds of safety due to Storm Ciara.
“It has happened many times and could maybe happen. PEP GUARDIOLA