Pep Guardiola uses Liverpool’s miraculous comeback in the 2005 Champions League final as an example of why his Manchester City players should never give up.
City are involved in a race for the Premier League title with Arsenal this season after winning the top flight in four of the last five seasons under Guardiola. After dropping two points in a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, they returned to winning ways over the weekend, beating Bournemouth 4-1.
They are second in the Premier League, two points behind Arsenal, who also have a game in hand. While City are used to being fighting for the title, the Gunners are aiming for their first league triumph since 2004.
Guardiola hopes that his side’s experience will stand them in good stead but has emphasised that nothing can be taken for granted in football. To make his point, he has often spoken to his players about that night in Istanbul where Liverpool overhauled a 3-0 deficit against a classy AC Milan side to win the Champions League.
Asked if City’s experience could be the deciding factor in the title race, Guardiola replied: “I would like to say yes, but I don’t know. Every season is completely different.
“I always give an important example to my players about this kind of thing from the Champions League from years ago, when Milan played Liverpool and Liverpool made a big comeback under Rafa Benitez. Milan were 3-0 [up] at half-time and had the most experienced line-up I’ve ever seen with [Paolo] Maldini, Cafu, [Gennaro] Gattuso, [manager] Carlo Ancelotti, and they lost.
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“From my little experience, when you think that everything is under control and I know exactly what is going to happen, football can come and punch you in the face and you get a new reality. This is the truth.”
City will play their fifth away game in succession when they take on Bristol City in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday night. They have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past four games in all competitions and drew 1-1 with Forest and RB Leipzig, but Guardiola insists his side are playing well.
"I know how good Arsenal are so far, [Manchester] United and Newcastle are still there,” he said. “That's why [we need] calm, think of Bristol now. My scout told me how serious we have to take it.
"After Newcastle, Crystal Palace, Champions League [last-16 second leg against Leipzig], we will see. We are still in February, soon it is March.
"After winning what we've won [in] the last years, still we are there in the three titles [competitions], that makes me feel so proud. We want to win but I'm so proud."
