Guardiola knows City must deliver on big stage

IT WILL be 10 years in May since Pep Guardiola won the last of his two Champions League titles as a manager.

In many ways, that feels like an anomaly given that the Catalan has hoovered up 17 major trophies in the intervening period, until you remember that only three men in history have won the European Cup three times.

So Guardiola is aiming to join rarefied company – Bob Paisley, Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane – at the same time as knowing there are those who will not consider his tenure at Manchester City to be an unqualified success unless he becomes top dog in Europe again, even as he steers the club towards a third Premier League crown in four seasons and, quite possibly, a second domestic treble.

There is good reason why many are looking at a rampant City and, by contrast, the ragged state of so many rival super clubs across Europe at the moment and asking, if not now, then when?

Borussia Monchengladbach face a City side tonight who have won their past 18 matches and been described as “arguably the best currently in the world” by the German club’s coach, Marco Rose.

The first leg of the round-of-16 tie has been moved to the Puskas Arena in Budapest because of German restrictions on arrivals from Britain but, with fans still barred from attending matches, the lines between home and away advantage have been blurred all season.

Yesterday Guardiola batted away questions about whether it might be fifth time lucky in the Champions League with City this season.

City have shipped just seven goals during their current unbeaten run of 25 games and there is a collective pragmatism and resilience that would appear to augur well for two-legged ties. Monchengladbach, meanwhile, progressed from a group containing Real Madrid,

Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk, but have struggled of late and were dealt the shock news last week that Rose would leave at the end of the season to take charge of Borussia Dortmund.

“If there is something City don’t like, then it’s not having the ball,” Rose said. “We need to play with courage and defend with passion. I have a team that is absolutely capable of that.”

Guardiola has a team absolutely capable of winning the competition. But it is time for City to finally step up on this stage. (© Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021)

Bor Monchengladbach v Man City, Live, BT Sport 2/VM 2, 8.0