Pep’s City are unstoppable, says Walker
PEP GUARDIOLA’S cautious approach to tonight’s Champions League clash with Shakhtar Donetsk is perhaps understandable from a man who, almost exactly a year ago, saw his flying start at Manchester City grind to a halt in the second group game.
It began to unravel on a raucous night in Glasgow when a 3-3 draw with Celtic halted his ten-match winning streak and began a run of six games without a victory.
However, there is something altogether more formidable about the squad he revamped in the summer; one that his new £50million signing Kyle Walker likened to an unstoppable force yesterday.
City have won seven of their first eight games, scoring 27 goals and conceding just three in the process, ahead of the Group F tie against the Ukrainians at the Etihad.
Only Everton have had any joy against them, drawing last month following Walker’s first-half sending off.
But the England defender warned that few clubs will be able to live with Guardiola’s side if they can maintain the frightening momentum built up over the opening weeks of the season.
‘If we keep doing the basics right, and keep performing at the level we’re performing at, hopefully we will be a force that won’t be stopped,’ said Walker.
‘We’ve got a lot of game winners and fantastic talents.
‘It is just about consistency. If we keep playing at the level we are playing at, I don’t think we’ll come up against many opponents who will cause us problems.
‘With the strikeforce we have and keeping clean sheets, we’re going to be tough.
‘But it’s a lot of work to keep doing. We need to keep listening to the gaffer and his tactics, and we hope that will see us across the line.’
The memory of last year’s trip to Parkhead might explain why Guardiola was so quick to urge caution yesterday in the corresponding game against a Shakhtar side that opened their campaign with victory over Napoli a fortnight ago.
Guardiola recalled his previous meetings with the Ukrainians. Barcelona were taken to extratime in the 2009 Super Cup, needed two late Lionel Messi goals to win in Donetsk in 2008 and even lost a dead rubber at the Nou Camp later that season.
But his last encounter with Shakhtar ended with a crushing 7-0 win as coach of Bayern Munich in a knockout tie in 2015 and he is anxious to play down any expectations that it could be a similar story tonight.
‘The players are going to see how good they are and, hopefully, I can convince them to take it seriously,’ said Guardiola after pausing briefly when asked if the Celtic game serves as a warning.
‘In Barcelona all the time it was the same: “Shakhtar? Ukraine? Who cares? Which players play? Nobody knows them”. I can assure you it was one of the best teams in terms of playing football.
‘It is the seventh time I play against Shakhtar in my career, once in the Super Cup and three times in the Champions League. Every time before I have the same feeling.
‘For Barcelona and Bayern Munich, we have a good result but it was so tough.
‘They beat one of the best teams in Napoli. They are leading the Italian league and Shakhtar beat them. The group is tricky.’
Still, victory over Shakhtar ahead of another home game against Napoli would put City firmly in control of Group F.
Benjamin Mendy will have a late fitness test on the knee injury he suffered in Saturday’s win over Crystal Palace.
But City are once again without Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan on a night when Sergio Aguero goes in search of the goal he needs to equal Eric Brook’s all-time scoring record of 177 for the club.
‘We’ll be at home the next two games and we can take a big step towards the knockout round,’ said Guardiola. ‘But the players know it is September. In the last years, City always start well and after were not able to achieve the results. We go game by game.’