Pep Guardiola claimed he was “emotionally destroyed” following Manchester City’s 3-0 win against Bayern Munich in the opening leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie and insisted his team will have to play two good games in order to knock the German side out of the competition.
Goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Haaland make City favourites to progress from the return at the Allianz Arena next Wednesday, with Thomas Tuchel’s visitors having been overrun by City. Yet Guardiola warned the tie is not over.
“It was not comfortable. Emotionally I’m destroyed,” he said. “I have 10 more years today. It was such a demanding game. Now I have to relax, a day off for the guys, and prepare for Leicester. I know exactly what you have to do there [in the second leg against Bayern]. If you don’t perform really well they are able to score one, two, three. I know that. The players know that. It’s an incredible result, but we have to play our game with a huge, huge personality.”
Guardiola was Bayern coach for three years so understands how the they can perform in big games at home. “If we don’t do our game anything can happen,” he said.
“We don’t need to tell them [his players] the warnings. Three years there and I know in Europe this team especially, you have to have a really good performance. To knock out these teams you have to have two good games, not just one.”
Kevin De Bruyne appeared to hurt a knee in the second half of the game at the Etihad Stadium and was replaced soon after. Guardiola was asked if that was because of an injury. “We needed extra energy and that is why I decided. I am here to take the decisions and I make them – this is my best quality,” he said.
Tuchel struck a defiant note. “I try to not allow my players to focus on the result – it is not a deserved result, it does not tell the story of this match and that will be the challenge [for next week], to focus on the things we did well,” the former Chelsea head coach said.
“We played with personality, courage and a lot of quality. We are realistic but we will not give up. It will not be over until we are in the shower [after the return next week].
“I fell in love with my team a little today, the way they performed. Even if it sounds strange, that was a lot of fun.”
