In the wake of Manchester City’s dramatic Champions League exit at the hands of Real Madrid, manager Pep Guardiola has weighed in on the competition’s future, naming four teams he believes are poised to lift the coveted trophy.
Notably, Arsenal was conspicuously absent from his list.
Following City’s 6-3 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the play-offs, a match highlighted by Kylian Mbappe’s stunning hat-trick in the second leg, Guardiola addressed reporters at the Etihad Stadium.
He declared Real Madrid as the frontrunners, while also acknowledging the strength of other European giants.
“Of course Madrid are a contender, definitely,” Guardiola stated. “But there are other good teams around. It will be an interesting Champions League season. Madrid are always favourites for this trophy. There are other teams who are having a very good season but Madrid are always favourites.”
Guardiola proceeded to name his other top contenders: “But there are other teams that are playing very well. Liverpool are having a really good season up until now, Barcelona are amazing, Paris Saint-Germain, with my friend Luis [Enrique] in charge, are on the march. But obviously, Madrid are favourites.”
The exclusion of Arsenal from this list has raised eyebrows, particularly as the Gunners are set to compete in the round of 16 against either PSV or Feyenoord.
The Dutch teams have made waves by ousting established powerhouses Juventus and AC Milan, respectively, suggesting a competitive European landscape.
Guardiola attributed City’s defeat to Real Madrid’s superior performance.
“The best team won. They deserved it,” he conceded. “This season we haven’t been so good – I felt that, in the previous seasons, we were better than Madrid, but this time not so. In this competition, quality always counts. This season Madrid are capable of long [spells of] possession; they were dynamic, they’re fast when they run and they pressed well.”
Acknowledging the recurring pattern of City’s defeats to Real Madrid in recent years, Guardiola emphasized the need to move forward.
“What you have to do is accept it and move on. Nothing is eternal. It was hard to bring the 3-2 [first leg defeat] here but now we have to learn from this and accept that there are another, I don’t know… 30 or 40 games to come [this season].”
City now shifts its focus to domestic competitions, aiming to secure the FA Cup and a top-four finish in the Premier League to ensure their return to the Champions League next season.
“We have to try to win the FA Cup, we have to try to finish in the top four in the league and we have to try to be back again in this competition next season. I have very little to reproach my squad for in terms of how they’ve played in the Champions League over the years,” Guardiola concluded.
