Pep Makes Shock Admission
by Kurt BuckerfieldFollowing Manchester City's home loss to rivals Manchester City in the Premier League this past weekend, manager Pep Guardiola made quite a shock admission about his side.
After the Citizens' domestic treble-winning campaign last time out, the former FC Barcelona manager would have wanted to take his team to better heights this season, but that now appears a hard ask.
Having won just two of their past five Premier League games, City are 16 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool, although they are still in the UEFA Champions League, which many people think Guardiola will now focus on even more with his team seemingly all but out of the title race.
After the Manchester derby, he was asked if he will try his best to compete for Europe's biggest club prize this season, and the 47-year-old seemed to suggest that City will not be able to challenge for the trophy as they are simply not up to standard.
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"That is the level we face, against Liverpool, United, Barcelona, Madrid, Juventus – they are the teams we have to face, and the reality is maybe we are not able now to compete with them," he told Sky Sports.
"We have to improve and accept it and move forward. Maybe we need to live that as a club to improve, to accept the reality now and improve."
City, who play Dinamo Zagreb in Europe on Tuesday, have already qualified for the next round of the competition.
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Since Guardiola's arrival at the club, City have managed just two quarter-final finishes in the UCL, after getting knocked out at the round of 16 stage in the Spaniard's debut campaign with the Mancunians.