Pep Guardiola says his time at Man City will ‘not be complete’ without Champions League’ title

Pep Guardiola admits his time at Manchester City will “not be complete” if he doesn’t win the Champions League.

Despite being the team to beat in England for the majority of the last 10 years, City are yet to win the European competition which Guardiola has faced criticism for.

They reached the final in 2021 but lost to Chelsea and had dramatic defeats in the knockout stages in recent years to Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid.

“It is not just the Champions League but I admit that is the trophy we want,” he told the press. “Of course, my period here will not be complete without it. It is not the only reason I extended.”

“I believe sooner or later this club will win [the Champions League]. We tried in the past, even in the first season, with all our strength and our power.”

On his contract he said: “I say thank you so much for the confidence they have in me.

“It will be difficult to repay that, so it is difficult for me to reject them for how they want me and my staff to continue doing our best. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude to this club.”

City play Liverpool in the League Cup on Thursday which has been one of the highlight fixtures over the last five years, given the quality and stature of each team.

Fans from both sides have called for any incidents to be reported following a tense match in the Premier League in October at Anfield, where chants from the away end and coins being thrown at Guardiola caused controversy.

Guardiola has called on people to support their team unconditionally whilst enjoying themselves.

“We want to behave well – the players, managers, spectators, but sometimes emotions get involved and things happen,” he added.

“People cannot behave ice cold when a goal is disallowed when it should be a goal in this type of game. We will always react in that way, but respect for officials, rules and opponents is always there from my point of view.”