Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to feel the pressure of having to win the Champions League after completing a fifth Premier League crown in six years.
The Blues picked up their latest triumph on Saturday when Arsenal lost at Nottingham Forest, and celebrated in front of their fans and family after beating Chelsea 1-0. The win confirms their dominance in English football and sets up their tilt at a historic Treble, with the FA Cup final and Champions League final to come.
Guardiola has for a long time maintained that his reign will not be defined by Europe, but in recent weeks has softened that stance to accept that City need to lift the biggest trophy in continental football to be recognised as one of the best ever. After lifting the latest trophy, the manager said it is a conversation that has been had many times with the squad and a pressure that is necessary.
Read next: Man City player ratings vs Chelsea
"They know it. The feeling I have is that if we win five Premier Leagues we still have the Champions League," he said. "We have had fun in all that period here. We cannot deny it.
"There is a part that sometimes can be unfair for the fact you have to win the Champions League to give credit or value to what you have done but you have to accept it and I think it's good. For a long time, you have to win the Champions League.
"I know it will not be complete if we don't win the Champions League. Sometimes, playing with this pressure is so nice and necessary. We tell each other a lot that we have to do it. But if we are not able to do it and the club continues in this way sooner or later we will do it. We have to try."
Despite that challenge, Guardiola still appreciates the scale of the victory that City have achieved at home. They became just the fifth team in English football to win three league titles in a row and have won more than half of the Premier Leagues in the last decade.
City's coach is convinced that the club will win the Champions League at some point, but said that everyone in world football knows how impressive they have been.
"We had the feeling that we had done something exceptional. Of course, to win in the Champions League, we have to win in Europe," he said.
"Otherwise, people will say our time here was not complete. But at the same time just in case we are not able to do it against Inter or next year, it is unfair to say that what we have done with 5 Premier Leagues in 6 years is not extraordinary.
"Everybody in world football - players, managers, sporting directors - knows how exceptional it is."
READ NEXT
- The inside story of how City fought back to beat Arsenal to the Premier League title
- City embarrass Chelsea to show what money can't buy
Guardiola's innovative tinkering makes 2023 his most impressive City title yet
City squad celebrate league title win together after watching Arsenal lose
- Follow the latest City news, views and analysis
