Guardiola soaking up first visit having heard tales from Parkhead cauldron
PEP GUARDIOLA is not a man easily flustered. That much is clear. The Manchester City manager, on his first visit to Glasgow, was the vision of contentment, smiling broadly as he walked through a throng of snapping cameras and scurrying journalists in Parkhead’s Jock Stein lounge, before comfortably taking his place in front of the world’s media.
You would never have guessed that the man headhunted by the English giants was facing a crucial Champions League away tie in 24 hours’ time without his captain or one of his key playmakers. Instead, the Spaniard spoke positively about the group left to deal with the task in hand, expressed his excitement at the renowned atmosphere he and his players will walk out into tonight, and shrugged off any sense of flapping at the loss of two of the most vital cogs of his footballing machine. After returning from injury to play against Swansea City in the EFL Cup last Wednesday, skipper Vincent Kompany went off at the tail end of their victory with a groin problem, while fellow Belgian Kevin De Bruyne suffered a hamstring injury on Premier League duty against the Welsh side at the weekend. But even with the backdrop of both men being in Barcelona for treatment, Guardiola seemed unperturbed ahead of a crucial night in Champions League Group C.
When asked if he regretted bringing back his captain for the Swansea game, Guardiola simply said: “Yeah, maybe. Now I would like him to play 85 [minutes]!”
It is a calmness that comes with a man who has complete faith that the squad he has is up to the task of building on the 4-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach earlier on this month in Manchester. Brendan Rodgers’s team will go up against a side that, if they claim the three points in Glasgow tonight, equal an English record for 11 wins on the bounce.
His confidence should not be confused with complacency, though. Guardiola is a class act and was respectful of their hosts tonight who got a 7-0 drubbing at the Camp Nou.
Whether for the benefit of local ears or not, Guardiola was keen to play down the significance of that heavy defeat when assessing the task facing City, instead pointing to the high intensity of the play that helped rip Rangers apart earlier this month.
“I saw the game against Rangers, how intense it was,” he said. “It was completely different from Barcelona, when they were waiting and being passive.
“The Rangers game was so aggressive with high, high pressing. That is the game I am going to expect from Celtic here.
“When you win, you are happy but then you focus on next game. When you lose, it is the same situation.”
Despite Celtic frequently being paired with Barcelona in European competition over recent years, the former Camp Nou manager will take charge of a team at Paradise for the first time this evening. The 45-year-old only arrived at the Etihad in the summer after previously being in charge at Bayern Munich, and speaking at Parkhead last night, revealed he has leaned on the knowledge of some of his former colleagues.
“This is my first time here in Glasgow to play Celtic,” said Guardiola. “All the people have spoken to me about the atmosphere and I am looking forward to the experience.
“I have heard many things about Celtic Park. I know their results here and how strong Celtic are here. They lost two or three games in the last 30 years. The last two times Barcelona were here, they won one and lost one.
“I spoke with my old players and they told me of a special stadium, for the environment with the fans, for the way they play. It’s a big challenge for us to know what our level is in Europe, away from home.”
City’s Serbian defender Aleksandar Kolarov, was equally as courteous as his manager. Kolo Toure, Patrick Roberts, Scott Sinclair and Nir Bitton – albeit only on trial – have all walked through the doors at the Etihad wearing light blue, and Kolarov said: “Yes, I played with all of them for some years at City.
“They are all great players and dominating here in Scotland.”