Pep Guardiola has no doubt Manchester City can win the Champions League with the all-out attacking football that beat Monaco 5-3 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.
City take on the Ligue 1 leaders at the Stade Louis II on Wednesday night with the tie nicely poised.
The first breathtaking contest featured the lead changing hands four times before City defeated a Monaco side whose 123 goals is the highest by any club in Europe’s top five leagues.
Although Guardiola stated he is unsure if City can win the competition this season, he insists if they do it will be with the kind of guns-blazing approach that beat Monaco at the Etihad Stadium.
He said: “Can we win the Champions League in that attacking way? Yes, sure. I could not assure anyone, even when we won the Champions League with Barcelona, or arrived in the semi-finals with Bayern Munich [when he coached them]. But in that way, it is going to happen. It is the only way I know, and it is going to be another fantastic game. Monaco are a team created to attack and our team is created to attack, or at least to score goals so in that way it will be a great game.
“I invite people to come here and see a good game. I am pretty sure of that. When one team scores 123 goals, it means they can score in many, many, many ways, so the best way for us is to score goals.”
Strategy
Guardiola said City will “kill” themselves if a strategy of sitting on their two-goal advantage to reach the quarter-finals is adopted. “Take the ball and attack as much as possible is the only way I know to beat this type of team,” he said. “If one team scores 123 goals and you are thinking about only defending for 90 minutes because we won one game, 5-3, you kill yourself.
“Maybe it will happen because we won’t be able to attack or won’t be able to control their fantastic attack. That can happen but the idea is to try our way to play. We scored five goals and that is not easy – they concede few chances. I saw the game against Bordeaux which was one or two chances [which Monaco won 2-1 on Saturday]. So you have to go to score goals and that is what I want to see from my team.”
Despite the two-goal cushion, Guardiola insists City will be knocked out if they do not score against Leonardo Jardim’s side. “We know with 2-0, 3-1, 4-2 we’re out, we know that, we have spoken about that,” he said. “We have to play our game focused on what we have to do so it will be a huge mistake for our side to think about what we’ve done and forget what we have to do. They know us better, we know them better and my impression about them is the same: they’re a top team. The best team in the world at scoring goals, they attack not with four or five but six guys. They are physically strong, they are fast in the short space and long spaces.
“I was really impressed before our game, more impressed after facing them, and now we have to do a huge performance to be in the next round. I want to see a team from the first minute that wants to win the game. I want to see that.
Reserved
“At that level everyone can beat you and you can beat them but I want to see my team with feeling that it wants to win the game. If the opponent is much better than us, they are much better than us. But not because we are reserved. Sometimes maybe it was a mistake [not to be] but I want them to be encouraged to play the game and try to score goals.”
City are bidding to be European Cup winners for the first time in their history. Guardiola denied the club has an inferiority complex compared to English sides that have won the trophy multiple times.
“Obviously we don’t have the long history of other clubs so if we are able to go through it will be the second time in the whole history of Manchester City to achieve the quarter-final,” he said. “It’s a football game, we have to try to win the game and not defend what we’ve done.”
As a manager Guardiola has reached seven Champions League semi-finals. But personal motivation is not a factor. He said: “Believe me, I’m not here to think: ‘I’ve reached the semi-finals seven times in a row and if that happens again it’s good and if not it’s a real pity’.”
Radamel Falcao, who scored twice at City, will have a late fitness test on a hip on Wednesday.
Guardian Service
