Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola previews their crucial UEFA Champions League clash clash with PSG. The losing side could miss out on qualification for the knockout stage
Parc des Princes, Paris, France
Courtesy of UEFA
Parc des Princes, Paris, France
Courtesy of UEFA
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00:00Good evening guys, hope you're well.
00:23We'll take questions for the manager in English first please and then in French and then we'll
00:28bring Erling to you after that.
00:30Somewhere to start please in English, Martin, just here, thank you.
00:33There's a microphone there Martin.
00:35Hi Pep, since we saw your last City have signed two players, two defenders, can you tell us a bit about them?
00:42Welcome back to them, to this City family, I'm very pleased.
00:48Really young, young players, so they come from many years and a different type.
00:55Kusanov plays here in France, so his physicality is extraordinary.
01:02Hopefully he can learn English as quickly as possible and Victor is a young talent in Brazil.
01:10Yeah, really pleased.
01:12Presumably Kyle Walker is not here Pep, is there any news on him?
01:16No.
01:18Mike.
01:21Hi Pep, in terms of the match and the way that the table lies, do you see this as a game that you simply have to win?
01:30And is it a situation unlike any other that you've had at Manchester City in terms of it feels like a survival match?
01:41Both teams have two matches, so of course it's a really important game for us, for PSG.
01:52But we have another game against Bruges at home, so I don't know how many points we will need.
01:57It's just in case we qualify.
01:59I know winning the two games, mathematically we'll be there, but maybe with just one victory we'll be there as well.
02:06Of course the point is just the game against Feyenoord, but especially all this competition, more games.
02:13It was in the most difficult moment of the season for the problems everybody knows that we had and we could not handle it.
02:20Of course we could not expect when we arrived to be in that position, we had to accept it.
02:24If at the end we don't qualify, accept that we were not good enough.
02:28Sports is simple as that, there are other competitors, contenders that sometimes they are better or not better and accept it and move forward.
02:40Just to follow up on the context, this league table, the new format has shown some surprising positions with Real Madrid 20th, your 22nd, PSG 25th.
02:52I just want to get your view overall on what you think about this format.
02:56We'll have to reflect afterwards, we'll see what happens.
02:59But at the end when you play against Inter, Milan, Juventus, Turin, PSG.
03:08This is a strong, strong team, so it can happen.
03:11After that, unfortunately against Inter we were really good, we could not win.
03:15After the game against Feyenoord was the turning point, Sporting de Lisboa in that moment was top of the league in Portugal.
03:23Winning almost all the games in the Champions League.
03:26So the group, like Paris Saint-Germain as well, I saw the games in Paris.
03:30Paris have played unbelievable the games they played against Atletico Madrid, for example, against PSV in Dover.
03:38They did everything to win the games, but unfortunately could not do it.
03:41Football sometimes happens.
03:43And after, when we finish the group stage, we can reflect.
03:47It's a good experience for the future.
03:51Many things can happen, but you don't play just in your group stage.
03:56All group stages, all the teams are involved.
03:58So the situation is different.
04:00It was new for everyone, for us as well.
04:02And what I said, it's a really, really important game for both of us tomorrow.
04:06But of course we have another game in a few days at home.
04:14And of course we need six points mathematically, maybe four, maybe three.
04:18You can go through.
04:21Hi Pep.
04:22In terms of the new signings, how much do you think they'll be available this season?
04:26How much do you think they will play in the next couple of months?
04:30Well, in the Champions League it's not possible, I would say.
04:32It's just in case we qualify, I don't know the rules.
04:35But now we cannot play tomorrow, we cannot play against Bruges.
04:38I don't know if it's just in case we qualify for the knockout to go to the last 16.
04:44It will be possible, I don't know.
04:46But in the Premier League they are able to play already.
04:49Do you think they are physically ready, mentally ready to go in straight away and contribute in the line-up?
04:55Yeah.
04:56In terms of recent results and performances, how do you see the team improving or otherwise since the end of last year?
05:05The results have been good.
05:07The performance was good in the last one.
05:10In the other ones we got results but the performance was not our best.
05:14But where we came from, results were really important.
05:19But now comes the toughest period of the season in terms of opponents.
05:24If you see the calendar, you say, wow, what are they going to play?
05:27But the challenge is there and go for it.
05:30John.
05:32John.
05:34Pep, after Ipswich on Sunday night, when you were talking about Phil Foden,
05:40you said that I think he was a completely different boy when he came back at the start of the season.
05:45And obviously he's supplied the goals that he has in recent matches, looks much more like himself.
05:50So tell us what exactly was going on there and how's he got back to where he is now?
05:57He was not able to play.
06:00It's simple.
06:01So we have played a lot of parts of the season without the best players in the world
06:07and the best players in the Premier League last season.
06:10To have this amount of sense of goal and assists that Phil had,
06:14it's like carrying his best, always had.
06:18So we had a part of the situation with the problems that everybody knows.
06:24It's not that I'm complaining because I reflect a lot
06:28for the fact that I could not be able to lift the team with the problems they have.
06:33That is the challenge.
06:34But we have done it.
06:36Step by step the players are coming back.
06:40And hopefully we can be there in the Premier League and qualify.
06:44And maybe, I don't know, you are able to do it.
06:47With everybody sticking back.
06:48Today, John Stone came back to the team.
06:50That is incredible good news for us.
06:52We can add in the position that we struggled a lot all the season
06:56because we could not train, we could not...
06:59Let's go guys, we need our rhythm
07:01because we have one or two substitutions in every game.
07:05And the guys who played after three or four days in a game,
07:08I could not demand it because I was scared to be injured.
07:12In the Premier League or in the Champions League
07:14when you cannot sustain our intensity,
07:16define what we were in the past, in the last decade of our race,
07:20nine, ten years.
07:22That is why we were not in our best results.
07:26The players, step by step, they are coming back.
07:29Ruben is back, John is back.
07:33And the people up front, you know, they are coming back as well.
07:39And for that, OK, let's game by game see what happens.
07:43And with Phil Foden, what have you done?
07:46How have you worked with him individually?
07:48How have you managed him?
07:52Well, I don't know.
07:54We talk a little bit, we try to let them feel like everyone,
07:57how much we love him, how much...
08:00It doesn't matter the performance, we try to be happy.
08:04He's a privileged person, has a lovely family,
08:07kids, a wife and people, you know, fans and all of us.
08:12We are there, it's just the feeling, you know,
08:15his mood, his face in the last weeks,
08:17he's always talking more, laughing more
08:19and being both in the locker room.
08:21But before, he was a little bit down,
08:23for the injuries they had, for the situation,
08:26for the last Euro or I don't know.
08:29But, yeah, this is a career football player.
08:33When Phil makes the debut, all the time it's better,
08:37better, better, better, better, getting better.
08:39So, I don't know how many, a lot of titles in his early age.
08:44And sometimes you drop a little bit.
08:46But maybe he'll help us realise what he needs to be consistent,
08:49learn from the best players in history,
08:52that was Messi and Cristiano,
08:54that they're consistent, they had every,
08:56completely every season.
08:58And maybe Phil will be better in the future.
09:01OK, guys, we'll take some questions in French.
09:03We'll start here, please.
09:04Bonjour, coach.
09:05Just a moment.
09:06Sorry, boss.
09:07I speak a lot of languages, but not French.
09:11I'm sorry.
09:12I will learn, take time.
09:14Number?
09:16Sorry.
09:17Number one, number two?
09:18Three?
09:19OK.
09:20Translator, ready?
09:21Yeah.
09:22Ready.
09:23OK.
09:24You ready?
09:25I'm ready.
09:26He has to be ready.
09:29My question is about Erling Haaland.
09:32How do you find him this season?
09:34And where do you see him progressing?
09:40Oh, definitely we have room for improvement.
09:43We are not our best for especially two months.
09:47We started the season really well,
09:49being unbeaten in Europe, top of the league,
09:51and immediately we fell down.
09:53We could not break that rhythm in a short time.
09:58And now we are who we are.
10:00So, yeah, it's where it is.
10:02Life is not always perfect.
10:04In life, always you live bad moments.
10:06And what defines us as football players,
10:08human beings, how we react,
10:10how we overcome those situations.
10:12Always I believe in that.
10:15And, yeah, the guys who are here,
10:17we are going to try.
10:21Hello, Pep.
10:22A small question about the style of Paris Saint-Germain,
10:24led by Luis Enrique, whom you know well.
10:27In France, there is a lot of debate and a lot of criticism
10:30about the game of Paris Saint-Germain,
10:32especially about the fact that they do not always use number 9.
10:34You have known these debates before Erling's arrival.
10:37What do you think of this PSG team
10:39and Luis Enrique's style?
10:45I like everything about Luis and about the way they play.
10:49You can criticize.
10:51If you play with a striker, you will be criticized.
10:53If you don't get results,
10:54if you play with a false 9, you will be criticized.
10:57One of the best teams in the world.
11:00Ever.
11:02It was Barcelona playing false 9.
11:05The number you play or don't play, it doesn't matter.
11:07But in our job, Luis knows better than anyone, myself,
11:12the same style with results is perfect.
11:14In the same way, we don't get results while we do it.
11:18Luis and myself know that we don't want to accept that,
11:20that criticism or that judge.
11:22When we do, we have to dedicate another job.
11:26We are here to accept that and move forward.
11:32What I saw this season, a few games,
11:34but now, especially the last two days,
11:37I like a lot what the things they do.
11:39I think it's a young, young team
11:41with incredible quality in the middle, dynamics,
11:43the pace they have with Barcelona and Bel Air.
11:47It's really good.
11:48They still have the incredible experience with Marquinhos,
11:50the pace with Nuno Mendes and Hakimi.
11:53Experience with the keeper.
11:57People say it's easy to win, easy to win.
11:59It's never easy to win.
12:00Even PSG may win every season in the French League.
12:04It's not easy.
12:05You have to prove.
12:06You have to do it.
12:07There are many things I like.
12:09A part of the connection I can have with Luis,
12:12we were mates in Barcelona.
12:14After, our families are really, really close friends.
12:17There are friendships that you know will be eternal,
12:19will be forever.
12:21We can disagree on many things,
12:23but the intentions are always good.
12:25I love them.
12:26I think they love us.
12:28We have an incredible connection on many, many things.
12:32You have the feeling that he's a person, a friend.
12:34You cannot be in touch for a long time,
12:36but he's always there.
12:38We are happy when we see each other.
12:39Of course, I want for the bottom of my heart
12:45the horrible performance from PSG tomorrow
12:50so that we can beat them.
12:53But it will be the 95 minutes afterwards.
12:56The relation will always be there.
13:00Are you ready, please?
13:01No, you.
13:03Coach,
13:05Lasna Kamara from Africa Football United.
13:09We often compare you to Lucien Riquet.
13:11You both went through Barcelona.
13:13You played together.
13:15Is the copy worth the original
13:18by not playing with an attacker for a while?
13:22And you have changed.
13:24Now you play with a number 9.
13:26Can we always compare you to Lucien Riquet?
13:56When we were buying the semi-finals,
13:58it was what the team created.
14:00That's why they won the treble.
14:01And after in Rome or here or wherever,
14:04it's not copy-paste.
14:06It's Lucien Riquet's team.
14:07For good things or bad things,
14:09it belongs absolutely to him.
14:12What I said, the solidarity,
14:14they run, they fight.
14:16Of course, they're good to build up.
14:17All the players have the ability to keep the ball, dynamics.
14:22But it looks like sometimes that the PSG
14:24win the French League is not enough.
14:26I know the pressure that they have.
14:28It's quite similar to what happened with us.
14:30It's the win of the Champions League.
14:32Everything we have done in the past for Man City
14:34was not enough, was not good.
14:36And it's a little bit unfair
14:37because I know how difficult it is.
14:41I think what the job we have done in his career
14:43belongs absolutely to him.
14:46Last one, please, guys.
14:47Good evening, Pep.
14:48A minute for BPSG Community.
14:49Tomorrow's match will be very, very important.
14:52What are the strengths and possibly the weaknesses
14:55that you have identified for Paris Saint-Germain?
15:01I will not tell you.
15:04I have someone, yeah, but...
15:08We have witnesses as well.
15:10And this season has improved more than before.
15:14But, of course, there are strength points
15:16and witnesses, like everything.
15:18OK, thank you, guys.
17:22Yeah.
17:42Hey, guys.
17:49Hello, bonjour.
17:51Very good.
17:53Evening, guys.
17:54Same again, please.
17:55No, we'll do English first,
17:56and then we'll do French after that.
17:58Same again, please, guys.
17:59Questions in English first,
18:00and then we'll move to French after that
18:01so we get everything blocked together.
18:03Somewhere to start, please?
18:05Simon.
18:08Hi, Erling.
18:09When you were looking at which club
18:11to move to after Dortmund,
18:13your dad talks about you maybe spending
18:15two or three years in each European league.
18:19What has changed to mean that you could now
18:22spend 12 years in the Premier League?
18:24First of all, that's his words, not mine.
18:27But, no, I think when I signed for City,
18:33I think I said it before, I felt like...
18:36I feel a bit like home.
18:38And, of course, I really meant it.
18:41And, yeah, I feel like home.
18:43I feel so happy.
18:45My family is so happy.
18:47And I think, in the end, that's what I wanted.
18:52And, yeah, I'm happy.
18:56Ten years sounds like a lot, most of your career.
19:00What sort of convinced you to sign on for that long?
19:05First of all, the feeling, as I said,
19:08and the people I spoke with made me convinced
19:14that this was the right choice,
19:15the people around me.
19:18And, yeah, in the end, when I spoke with people,
19:22we came to this and it felt really good.
19:26And, in the end, I really look forward
19:30to spending so many more years in Manchester.
19:35It's going to be amazing.
19:38Hi, Jürgen.
19:39It's a massive commitment on your part,
19:41as well as the club's, to commit yourself for so long.
19:43So, with the uncertainty surrounding the club right now,
19:45we all know the club's waiting to hear
19:47what's going to happen with the 115 charges.
19:50Did that not worry you at all?
19:52Did you have to seek reassurances that,
19:54if the worst happened, you would have a way out, maybe?
19:59No, I haven't thought of that or anything.
20:02I'm confident that the club know what they're doing.
20:05And, yeah, in the end, I really don't think
20:09I should speak too much about this
20:11because I've been here for two and a half years.
20:15So, yeah, in the end, I'm confident
20:18that the club knows what they're doing.
20:22Erling, not many players get offered
20:24the chance to sign a ten-year contract.
20:26Are you surprised that City have...
20:28I know you're good at scoring goals and everything,
20:30but are you even surprised that City have committed so long to you?
20:35I think it's a really good sign, I think, and a thing.
20:40And, yeah, of course, it's a bit unusual.
20:45It's not normal and that's also something I like.
20:52But, yeah, in the end, it felt good for both parties
20:58and, in the end, it was an easy choice, so, yeah.
21:03Paul?
21:07Erling, you've been available for pretty much every match this season.
21:11Obviously, when you signed for City, you had a couple of injury troubles.
21:15What's made that different now, what's made that click?
21:18What's the secret behind that?
21:21Taking good care of my body, first of all.
21:24I try to do everything I can to be available for the club, for the team.
21:32And, yeah, it's been going really well this season in terms of that.
21:38It's not easy because there are many games,
21:40but, yeah, it's about taking care of the body,
21:43it's about preparing in the right way,
21:45it's about getting the right and enough amount of sleep,
21:50eating the right things and doing the right choices in the end.
21:54Have you changed at all?
21:57Yeah, I've probably changed a few things.
22:00What it is, I don't really know.
22:04I started measuring my sleep just to make sure that I slept really well,
22:09and it was true, I slept really good.
22:11So that's a thing I did differently this season.
22:16And anything else, I don't know.
22:20I do mostly the same.
22:23Yeah.
22:24David?
22:25Just two things, Erling.
22:27Did a part of you, when you committed for such a long time,
22:30have Alan Shearer's Premier League record in your mind?
22:33No.
22:34Not at all?
22:35Not really, no.
22:36OK.
22:37And just the second part is,
22:39it's been a real up-and-down season for you and the club.
22:42Do you feel that you're now back on the up
22:44after this little mini-run of four or five games?
22:47Do you feel like City again, essentially, and yourself?
22:51Yeah, I feel like a really positive energy in the club.
22:57It's been a hard period, everyone knows that.
23:01But, yeah, I feel the energy, we're training really good.
23:05And, yeah, I think we're over that now.
23:09And, of course, we look ahead, we look forward in time.
23:14We look forward to the game tomorrow and then many other games.
23:20So, yeah.
23:21Oli.
23:22Hi, Erling.
23:23However happy you are at City,
23:25and I take your point that you're very happy,
23:27your family's happy, et cetera,
23:29a lot of big players have big dreams.
23:32Often the one that they quote is Real Madrid,
23:35playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona.
23:38The length of the deal that you've signed probably rules that out.
23:43Is that not something that...
23:45We've just seen Lewis Hamilton sign for Ferrari.
23:49That kind of move is probably off the books for you now.
23:52You're obviously OK with that?
23:55Yeah, I just signed a nine-and-a-half-year deal,
23:58so what do you want me to say?
23:59Of course I'm happy with that and I'm good with that.
24:05Yeah, as I said, I'm super happy with my choice
24:09and I'm looking forward to spending many years in Manchester.
24:14And that's really it.
24:18OK, let's take some questions in French, please.
24:20We'll start here at the front.
24:29Hi, Erling.
24:30The last time you came to the Parc des Princes was five years ago,
24:33with Borussia Dortmund.
24:35It's a match that has become quite historic for PSG.
24:38I imagine it's a bit less so for you.
24:40Do you still think about this match?
24:41Do you have a particular feeling of revenge
24:43about this match from five years ago?
24:49Yeah, it was a big game for them.
24:51But no, I don't feel any revenge or anything.
24:55To be honest, what happened in the past happened in the past.
25:00Yeah, all I can say is I'm looking forward to the game.
25:03It's going to be a great game and, yeah, that's it.
25:08The back, please.
25:09Erling, yeah.
25:11We've seen you fighting and working a lot
25:17to keep scoring goals in the Premier League
25:20and it seems that every match, every day,
25:23is more and more difficult
25:25because defenders are waiting for you,
25:27are more tight, more close in their penalty box.
25:34How can you improve in order to find the spaces
25:39in such difficult circumstances?
25:42I've never seen a situation so difficult defensively
25:47for a striker as you find every match
25:51in the Premier League and maybe in Europe.
25:55Yeah, it's getting more and more difficult.
26:00But again, that's a positive thing
26:02when people really care about you
26:05or really put a lot of people on you or whatever.
26:12I think that's the best thing that can happen to you as a footballer
26:16because that means that you've done something right.
26:20And then in the end, there's no excuses or anything.
26:23You have to try and find a way to win games with the team
26:27and for me, obviously, as the striker of Manchester City, to score goals.
26:31So, it's about finding ways to get to chances and everything
26:36and to, yeah, do your best and score.
26:46Hi, Damda.
26:47I also wanted to talk to you about the game you played here five years ago
26:51because there was an atmosphere that marked the fans,
26:54your celebration that became iconic.
26:56When you came to Paris, you made a story on social media
27:00by saying that Paris was your city.
27:02Are you still in the spirit of that?
27:04Are you going to say that Paris is your city tomorrow?
27:14First of all, the atmosphere was not the best.
27:16It was COVID time, so there was zero people in attendance.
27:22But, no, I don't really care about this game, to be honest.
27:30I don't really think too much about what happened.
27:33I try to look forward in my life.
27:35I try to focus on what I can do something with,
27:39not something that happened or anything.
27:42So, I look ahead.
27:45I'm looking forward to the game tomorrow and, yeah, that's it.
27:51Back, please.
27:53Hello, Erling.
27:54Stéphane Bianchi from Parisien.
27:55The last time, I'm sorry, I insist,
27:57the last time you came to the Paris Saint-Germain team,
28:00there were players like Neymar, like Kylian Mbappé.
28:03The last time Manchester City came, there was Lionel Messi.
28:08Is this Paris Saint-Germain team as impressive this year
28:12as it was in the past?
28:15We'll see.
28:17The last time I played against them was four or five years ago,
28:22so it's a long time ago.
28:24But they're doing really well in the league.
28:27But in the Champions League, they haven't done well.
28:30Same as Man City.
28:33It doesn't mean we're not an impressive team.
28:36I think Paris will always be a top, top, top team.
28:41With now a fantastic manager.
28:43So it's going to be a really difficult game in the end.
28:46We all know this.
28:48And we have to do our best because we need to win games,
28:54and that's what City is about, and that's also what Paris is about.
28:58They also have to win games in the league,
29:01in the Champions League, in the cup and everything.
29:04So, yeah.
29:06One more question.
29:09One more question, please, guys at the back.
29:11Hello, Erling.
29:14We have a big debate here in France with Paris Saint-Germain,
29:18where Luis Henrique has a tendency
29:20not to make a real number 9 evolve in this team.
29:23Do you think it's something of a capital today
29:26to be performing in the European Cup,
29:28to have a real number 9 on the pitch?
29:32I think me as a number 9,
29:35I don't think I should try to speak too much about
29:39that it's good not to play with a number 9.
29:41But people do it differently.
29:45City played many years without a number 9,
29:47and it went quite well.
29:49They won the Premier League and many trophies,
29:52so I think you can play with and without a number 9.
29:55It depends on how you play, it depends on the plays you've got.
30:00It depends on a lot of things,
30:02and you can play with, you can play without.
30:07I hope Pep wants to play with a number 9,
30:10if not, I'll have to start thinking.
30:13So, yeah, that's my answer.
30:17Thank you, guys.
30:18Good?
30:19All good.