WE CAN PUNISH UNITED
Pep calls for City to pile misery on arch rivals
PEP GUARDIOLA says Manchester City will look to “punish” Manchester United by piling on derby agony to an already miserable week.
City face a United side still nursing fresh bruises from their agonising Champions League exit in the Manchester derby this afternoon.
And while City boss Guardiola, right, insisted his
side will be expecting a backlash from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, they can ramp up the pressure on the Red Devils’ under- fire manager. “It will be difficult of course, like all the big clubs they have top players up front,” said Guardiola.
“But we’ll try to play our game, to control them as much as possible and, yes, to punish them.
“They know that we go to Old Trafford to try to win the game, like we’ve always done. We know the quality they have.”
Guardiola has all but two players – Oleksandr Zinchenko and Eric Garcia – to choose from but will not start Sergio Aguero, right, as he makes a cautious comeback from injury. The striker made a goalscoring return from a knee injury as a substitute against Marseille on Wednesday.
But Guardiola does welcome back several players who were able to rest up as City completed their Champions League group with a stroll, including Kevin De Bruyne.
The Belgium international warned against City taking things easy today, insisting a
FOCUSED: De Bruyne, centre, says City cannot afford to take arch- rivals United lightly in today’s Manchester derby
United side still stinging from crushing defeat against Leipzig could be a dangerous beast.
“I don’t think it is more important for them m but we need to be careful ful because everything g that has happened this week, it is a good game for them to change the switch,” said
De Bruyne.
“They will want to show a different side de to what happened in Leipzig and we need to be aware of that.
“In the end it is similar for them as it is for us. Both teams want to keep momentum from the last few weeks and it is important to do that.”
Guardiola has lost three of the five match- ups with Solskjaer and claimed the United manager remained “exceptional” despite
the European disappointment. “For me, he’s an exceptional manager for how he has handled the team and how he represents United all around the world,” said Guardiola.
“Ole knows, everyone knows it depends on results but I have a high opinion about his work at United.
“But I don’t have to give him support, he’s strong enough, he knows how it works in this job.
“When we win we are geniuses and when we lose we have to be sacked. Same at United and all around the world.”
Guardiola feels United’s Champions League frustrations actually highlight the strength of his own side’s achievement in qualifying for the t last 16. City finished top of a group that included Porto, Oly Olympiakos and Marseille with a club record 16 points. Guardiola said: “The margin in this level is so high and when it is so high h big teams can be out. That is why, every ever time we win one game in the group stages, I say to the players, ‘ Well done guys, it’s so difficult, you did an incredible job’.
“In the Premier League it is the same. Every game you are able to win is so complicated, so difficult.
“Every time we are able to do it, it is a big compliment.”