Pep Guardiola praises ‘incredible’ Manchester City after thrashing Schalke
Pep Guardiola praised goal-hungry Manchester City as “incredible” after they trounced Schalke 7-0 and said he was “sorry for the English people” but he wants Bayern Munich to beat Liverpool in the Champions League.
This win – 10-2 on aggregate – put City into the draw for the quarter-finals on Friday and made it 61 goals in all competitions in 2019, with only eight conceded.
Guardiola said: “I would like to be more who we are in the first 25 minutes but we were solid, we didn’t concede chances and in the last 15 minutes [before the break] and second half we were incredibly good.
“Schalke are in a tough period, they lost the last [four] games and their confidence must not be on top but you need to do your job and we did it. I am incredibly happy to be in the quarterfinals.” Sergio Agüero (twice) and Leroy Sané scored in seven first-half minutes before Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus were on target after the break.
Liverpool are at Bayern on Wednesday night for their last-16 second leg with the tie poised at 0-0. Guardiola, a former Bayern manager, was clear who he wants to progress. “I want Bayern, sorry for the English people. I am a big fan of this club and I love Munich and all the people. I would like Bayern to go through but it will not be easy, it is so demanding a game for both.”
Before the match Guardiola described his team as “teenagers” in the competition and he explained his reasoning. “When I said we are a teenage team, I didn’t say we are not going to fight. The teenagers have patience, desire, they are not scared [of anything]. We are trying to achieve for the second time in our history a semi-final of the Champions League.”
The Schalke manager, Domenico Tedesco, denied being concerned about his job. “I am proud to be coach of Schalke, I am happy to be here in this difficult situation but I have not given any thought to my position. That is the last subject I think about,” he said.