Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes he'll be judged as a failure at the club unless he can win the Champions League.
The 49-year-old has already won five trophies since arriving at Etihad Stadium, making Premier League history in the 2017/18 campaign by reaching a tally of 100 points - more than any other side in the competition's history - although Liverpool are well on course to eclipse that this term.
Meanwhile though, Guardiola hasn't made it past the quarter-final stage of the Champions League with City, being knocked out by the likes of Monaco, Liverpool and Tottenham.
"Last year was an extraordinary one for us but people say, 'But you didn't win the Champions League'," Guardiola said, quoted by the BBC. "That is why I will be judged, if we don't win it in my final period here, that I will be a failure here. I know that."
In four years at Barcelona, Guardiola lifted the Champions League twice. And if Manchester City don't win Europe's biggest prize this season he would have gone more than a decade without his hands on the trophy.
Despite this, Guardiola is still held in high regard at Bayern Munich - a club who would jump at the chance to reappoint him as their manager.
Manchester City face Real Madrid in the first round of knockout stage games in the Champions League this season, although they still have three tough tests domestically before travelling to the Santiago Bernabéu.
Games against West Ham and Leicester City come either side of the Premier League's inaugural winter break, but the reigning champions first have to take on Tottenham Hotspur, who have won just three of their nine matches since Christmas.
"They are quite different but there are similarities. Their teams are both quite aggressive," Guardiola added, expecting to see elements of both a Mauricio Pochettino and José Mourinho team on Sunday.
"I saw Tottenham at Southampton and they were alive. They conceded a last-minute goal but I saw a team that is there.
"Every manager has different ideas, both are incredible managers. Mauricio Pochettino was there five or six years while Mourinho has been there just months, so all managers need time to make our teams play the way we want."
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Source :
90min
