Pep Guardiola has challenged his Manchester City players to show belief ahead of their decisive meeting with Real Madrid, declaring that anyone who doubts the team’s chances of overturning the tie might as well stay away.
City face a daunting task after suffering a 3-0 defeat in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium last week. The result left the Premier League giants needing a dramatic turnaround when the sides meet again in Manchester on Tuesday night.
Despite the size of the challenge, Guardiola insists the mindset inside the dressing room must remain positive. The Spaniard made it clear that belief is not optional if his side are to produce a comeback.
“If they don’t believe, that’s their problem,” he said.
“They’re adults, they have good salaries. If they don’t believe in that for the Champions League then go home, stay home.
“We have to try. What do we have to lose?”
While the odds appear stacked against them, the City manager suggested that football has often produced unexpected outcomes, particularly in the Champions League.
City approach the second leg in less-than-perfect form. The team have won just one of their last four matches in all competitions, drawing with Nottingham Forest and West Ham United and losing heavily to Madrid in Spain.
Guardiola believes the main issue lies not in creativity but in efficiency, particularly in the final moments of attacking moves.
“We have five or six players in the box to score a goal,” Guardiola explained. “We are not asking players to make an action to dribble past seven players and scoring a goal.”
For a side that has built its reputation on attacking fluency and control of possession, the inability to convert chances has been a noticeable concern in recent weeks. Guardiola pointed out that City are creating enough opportunities but are failing to take advantage of them.
“We miss simple things in the box. Defensively as well. We conceded a goal that should be avoided.”
Statistics from recent matches highlight the issue. City are often dominating the ball and producing large numbers of attempts on goal, yet the final scorelines do not reflect their control of the games.
“We have 24 shots… we are not able to score two or three or four,” Guardiola said.
He referenced a narrow victory against Leeds United as another example of their struggles to turn dominance into convincing wins.
“In Leeds we won 0-1. We didn’t win 0-3 or 0-4. 0-1.”
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Guardiola acknowledged that while his side still performs well in several areas of the game, the sharpness that previously defined them has been missing.
“We are, in many things, good, but not like we were.”
With only a handful of matches remaining in the campaign, Guardiola accepts that City must quickly address their weaknesses if they are to end the season on a positive note.
The manager emphasised the need for improvement not only for the current campaign but also as preparation for the future.
“With eight games left we have to accept it and finish the season better,” he continued. “The quicker we improve the better it will be for the present and for the future, for next season.”
Despite the recent setbacks, Guardiola insisted that his belief in the team remains intact. He praised the squad’s overall quality and reiterated that his commitment to their playing style has not changed.
“This is what we have to do. I like my team. I know today modern football is not (like that) but still I like it so until the end we continue.”
