Manchester City not at same level as Liverpool, admits Pep Guardiola
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that his team might not be able to compete with teams like Juventus and Liverpool. The reigning English champions have struggled to dominate games in their usual style this season with the Citizens trailing the Reds by 14 points in the league.
Manchester City most recently lost to their neighbours Manchester United at the Etihad stadium leaving them in third place and 14 points behind rivals and league leaders Liverpool. This was Manchester City’s 4th loss in 16 league games, as many as they suffered in the entire league campaign last term which does mean that they will be able to get only a maximum of 98 points.Â
However, after the derby defeat, Pep Guardiola went on to admit that catching Liverpool might not be realistic now but the team needs to continue doing what they are supposed to do. In an interview, the former Bayern Munich boss also revealed that his side team might not be able to compete with the big horses of Europe like Juventus, Liverpool and Barcelona and everyone needs to accept the “harsh reality”.
“We have to improve and accept it and move forward. United have the quality to defend and the quality to attack on the counter-attack and you have to accept that. That is the level we face against Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus. They are the teams we have to face and the reality is maybe we are not able now to compete with them. Maybe we need to live that as a club to improve, to accept the reality now and improve,” Guardiola told BBC.
Despite struggling in the league this season, City are already through to the knockout stages of the Champions League ahead of Wednesday's final group game against Dinamo Zagreb. Heavy changes are expected from Guardiola who will aim to give maximum possible rest to his key players ahead of the tight Christmas schedule. The Spanish boss also spoke on how it is important to concentrate on other competitions with Carabao Cup quarter finals and FA Cup ties approaching.
“The reality is we are 14 points behind for the mistakes we have done, for the quality of our opponents and especially, as well, the things we cannot control. That is the reality but we have to continue. We are at the beginning of December and we have other competitions to play in and other games to fight and improve on. We are not thinking of winning the Champions League, I am not thinking about how many points we need or how many points they have to drop. We are trying to win games, to win the next one,” concluded Guardiola.
