It’s too early to talk Euro glory, says Kompany
VINCENT Kompany last night insisted Manchester City must be realistic about their dream of lifting the Champions League.
City, who were pre-tournament favourites to lift the crown in Madrid, find themselves desperate for victory at Hoffenheim tonight after the shock defeat by Lyon.
Pep Guardiola is about to find out just how mentally tough his squad are.
A semi-final in 2016 is still the club’s best finish and Guardiola was criticised in some quarters following knockout blows by Monaco and Liverpool in the last two years.
There is a feeling that the dwindling powers of the continent’s elite could open the door for the Premier League champions this season but Kompany moved to temper expectations.
‘I’d love to win a European trophy with City but I’m being realistic,’ said the defender, who is out of contract next summer and a veteran of eight Champions League campaigns with City.
‘It’s such a tough competition to win. It’s OK to say we want to win it but there are seven or eight other teams thinking the same. They have just as big a claim, if not a bigger claim, than us.
‘We have to deal with the fact we lost against Lyon, never mind winning the Champions League. I don’t know if you can speak in those terms. If we get momentum then anything is possible.
‘All I know is that it’s the last step that we haven’t achieved yet. The club is always aiming to progress. There is nothing left to achieve. It takes time. I don’t want to put pressure on the manager here for the next few years but we will see and do our best.’
Guardiola looked as focused as he has been all season, watching Kompany intently while the 32-year- old spoke. Publicly the manager is adamant that creating domestic domination is his main objective and cites Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Juventus as teams to emulate.
‘Vincent said it perfectly,’ he began. ‘This is a top competition, everyone is so good and that is why it is complicated.’
Yet what followed was a glimpse into his psyche and how the Spaniard views the club’s stunted progress in Europe under him. He even suggested City’s defeat in against Lyon may help them progress this season.
‘The last two seasons when I’m here we qualified quite comfortably,’ Guardiola added. ‘Maybe you have to realise that you suffer in the group stage to make a step forward.’
City won their opening five group matches last season and were never in trouble the year before either. ‘We have five finals to qualify, there is not time to lose a lot of games and we’ve lost the first one. We know the situation we are in. Five finals and this is the first one. Maybe we need to live a tough moment in this competition.’
Guardiola also revealed he has been messaging Hoffenheim’s prodigious 31- year- old manager Julian Nagelsmann and poured cold water on a link with Kylian Mbappe.
He claimed a move for the Paris Saint- Germain striker ‘is not going to happen’, because City ‘are not going to spend the money that Mbappe deserves or that PSG deserve’.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Mendy will be given the chance to prove his fitness ahead of Sunday’s trip to title rivals Liverpool. The left back has been out with a bruised metatarsal since last month’s international break and missed the last five games.
Kevin De Bruyne was back training with the first team yesterday morning after a knee injury, though he did not travel to Germany. De Bruyne has set the Manchester derby on November 11 as a potential comeback date but he could be ready to return sooner.