Pep Guardiola insists Man City must be ‘more clinical’ to be considered Champions League favourites
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A 19th straight win in all competitions wasn’t enough to satisfy Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who suggested Bayern Munich remain the favourites to retain the Champions League and wants his team to show a more ruthless streak.
His side were largely comfortable in beating Borussia Monchengladbach 2-0 in the last-16 first leg on Wednesday night, with Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Jesus netting the goals.
But Guardiola pointed to a series of chances where further goals could have been scored to see the tie effectively wrapped up on the night for Man City.
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“It was good, we controlled the game. Unfortunately we were not clinical enough up front and it’s something we have to improve in this competition,” Guardiola told BT Sport at full-time.
“The first leg is always difficult but I agree [we should have scored more] - up front we have to be more clinical.
“The situation is clear, one against one, against the ‘keeper or defender and we were not able [to finish them], not even dribbles. You have to be perfect to be sure you can go through.”
City have now face a run of four straight games at home in the Premier League, where they are top of the table and already 10 points clear of their nearest challengers, making them massive favourites to reclaim that particular title.
But Guardiola, who paid tribute to the “intelligent” performance of match-winner Bernardo Silva and praised full-back Joao Cancelo for bringing a “special” quality to the team, doesn’t feel City can yet be claimed to be favourites for silverware in Europe - and isn’t planning on thinking about the second leg just yet.
“When I see Bayern [beating Lazio 4-1] yesterday I wouldn’t think so!
“But my target is just West Ham in three days. It’s a big challenge to recover players and the rest [of the talk]...you accept it.”
City have five domestic matches to take care of before the home leg against ‘Gladbach.
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