Pep Guardiola has pinned Manchester City’s failure to win the Champions League on one guilty party: Real Madrid.
City secured their place in the Champions League knockout stages for the tenth consecutive season on Tuesday night, a goalless draw away at FC Copenhagen proving to be enough after Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund played out a 1-1 draw later in the evening.
City did not have their finest evening on an evening that was overshadowed by the chalking-off of a wonder-strike from Rodri. Riyad Mahrez then spurned a chance to put City ahead from the penalty spot, before Guardiola’s side then had to play 60 minutes with ten men following the dismissal of Sergio Gomez for a last-man foul.
Now that progression to the last-16 has been secured City can turn their attention to securing top spot in Group G, before then plotting how to win the competition for the first time in the club’s history. After Tuesday’s match Guardiola was asked why – despite enjoying unparalleled domestic success at the Etihad Stadium – his side have been unable to lift European football’s top prize.
“Because Madrid is always there,” he answered dryly. Los Blancos have developed something of a monopoly in the Champions League in recent times, winning five of the last ten tournaments including three-in-a-row between 2016 and 2018.
Last season City were looking to make the final step after losing in the 2021 final to Chelsea, but Real Madrid pulled off a remarkable last-gasp comeback at the Bernabeu to shade the semi-final 6-5 on aggregate.
A lot has been made in recent years of Guardiola’s quest to win another Champions League title, something he has not done since he led Barcelona to glory in 2011. Given the quality of players at his disposal at City it’s surprising that things haven’t clicked yet, but before the start of this season Pep insisted that winning the competition has not become an obsession for him.
“It’s not about that. I would like to win it, it’s not an obsession, it’s a dream, a target we can do,” he said. “I’m completely aware how good the opponents are and how difficult this competition is. I said many times, maybe people don’t believe me or think I’m making an excuse, I didn’t come here to win the Champions League.
“I’m the first to want it, [but] it was the same in Munich. In Barcelona we won it twice, I wanted to win four! The 30 or 40 seasons where I’m a manager, I want to win every single Champions League, [but] I don’t feel a failure when we don’t win it.”