Guardiola on City comeback win against Brugges to seal Champions League playoff v Bayern or Real Madrid
29/01/2025
uefa24
29/01/2025
uefa24
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00:00Evening, guys, same process as yesterday,
00:13we'll take questions from English-speaking media first,
00:15and then some from Belgian-speaking media.
00:17We'll start with Simon, please.
00:19Hi, Pep, congratulations.
00:21Yesterday you were quite confident that you would make it through tonight,
00:25were you still as confident at half-time?
00:28When I saw the fire before the game at half-time,
00:37the journalists had the headline already,
00:39so that's for sure.
00:43Yeah, we were lost, we were out,
00:49when you are out, when you play, you have nothing to lose.
00:57We go through, I go through, we go forward.
01:00I think the first half was so academic,
01:04but we missed the spark.
01:06I think Sabinho helped us all season,
01:08when he played there, it was unbelievable.
01:10He changed the game, because after five, ten minutes,
01:14created two or three corners, our crowd reacted,
01:18and we had the chances,
01:22but for the way they played that way,
01:24Brugge had more chances in the second half than in the first.
01:28But the first half, in that situation,
01:30where they are so tight, they defend man-to-man marking,
01:32we need the quality, the spark of one player,
01:34make the individual action to score, and we missed it.
01:38Maybe because we felt the pressure,
01:40maybe because we felt it in the second half.
01:44As I said, sometimes you are winning 2-3-0,
01:46and you are scared to lose what you are winning,
01:48and when you are 1-0 down,
01:50we are out of the Champions League,
01:52and we have nothing to do,
01:54and the players won that.
01:56In the right moment, we found the goals,
01:58and it had been a really tough group,
02:00a new format stage,
02:02really tough, really hard,
02:04because the game against Inter Milan,
02:06we played really good,
02:08and especially Feyenoord,
02:1015 minutes left,
02:12and it's not easy to win,
02:14in the circumstances that we had,
02:16in Paris Saint-Germain, to win, it's not easy.
02:18But we did it, we are there,
02:20in two weeks we will be better
02:22than we are right now,
02:24because new players come back, new signs.
02:28Against these two giants,
02:30one of them is going to play,
02:32and we will see what happens, how we arrive.
02:36What do you make of the new format?
02:38From our point of view,
02:40there was lots of drama,
02:42it felt very different to perhaps the group stages before,
02:44what have you made of it?
02:46I would say I don't like it,
02:48but I like it, as a spectator,
02:50in the last game, how many things,
02:52nobody is sure,
02:54important teams can be out,
02:56it's nice.
02:58The problem is we play more games,
03:00in the position of October-November,
03:02and when you are not feeling it already,
03:04you suffer like we are suffering,
03:06and in the future, important teams
03:08will live what we will live this season.
03:10Or maybe not, because maybe the team
03:12will realise, oh my God,
03:14if you are not aware already from the beginning,
03:16you can be out.
03:18In the beginning of the season,
03:20you tell me now,
03:22out of the 24 teams,
03:24which team could think about it against City
03:26that will be out in the first 24?
03:28We were in the birch,
03:3045 minutes away to be out,
03:32so it's an incredible lesson for all the club,
03:34for me first, for the players, for the club,
03:36that nothing is for granted,
03:38and it's so difficult, everything,
03:40how incredible a team they are,
03:42but today it's OK,
03:44because still they have pride,
03:46I never doubt about that,
03:48and yeah,
03:50Premier League, we'll see how we arrive
03:52in two weeks against these two teams.
03:56You called them giants,
03:58the two opponents that you might have,
04:00to win the tournament,
04:02I suppose you will have to beat
04:04the best teams anyway,
04:06so just your thoughts on the fact,
04:08and from what you are saying
04:10about the group stage as well,
04:12are you unlucky that you are facing
04:14these teams because of how you played?
04:16We deserve it,
04:18if we can do it better,
04:20maybe we are lucky,
04:22I don't know if they are happy
04:24to play against us,
04:26but it's what it is,
04:28so it's no complaint at all,
04:30it's Bayern or Madrid,
04:32we are going to face them,
04:34one is the king of the competition,
04:36the other one is the second or third king of the competition,
04:38so have experience,
04:40but what I want,
04:42what I wish
04:44for the beginning of the season
04:46is to have the team back,
04:48the players fit,
04:50that's all I wish,
04:52I accept Rodri from the beginning,
04:54but not the other ones,
04:56and we played this competition
04:58with a thousand million problems
05:00against teams like Sporting Lisbon,
05:02when we faced them with Nuno Amorim,
05:04he was in the best,
05:06top, and after they dropped,
05:08Juventus, Turin,
05:10so many tough teams,
05:12I think Inter and Milan,
05:14we played really good,
05:16but especially Feyenoord,
05:18it was a tough moment,
05:203-0, 15 minutes left,
05:22to leave our confidence,
05:24that moment mentally was really tough,
05:26in that moment I said,
05:28we arrived the last moment,
05:30the last game against Bruges,
05:32with the chance to win the game,
05:34I signed right now,
05:36and the team in that moment
05:38were not like we were,
05:40to compete in the biggest stages
05:42in the Champions League,
05:44that's why I want in these two weeks,
05:46Ruben, Nathan, the new signs,
05:48Jeremy, Oscar,
05:50and everybody come back,
05:52that's why they can compete,
05:54they are favourites, yes or yes,
05:56we have seen this season,
05:58they are better than us,
06:00both of them right now,
06:02but I don't know what's going to happen
06:04James?
06:06Pep, it's a knockout competition,
06:08you're through,
06:10can you imagine Man City winning
06:12the Champions League this season?
06:14Right now, no,
06:16but the year we won,
06:20I thought we were going to win
06:22the Champions League,
06:24the team we won in his life,
06:26in his whole history,
06:28I'm so pragmatic,
06:30the reality is the reality,
06:32they are better than us,
06:34Madrid maybe struggled,
06:36but in the last games,
06:38he's back in the results,
06:40in the way they play,
06:42and Bayern Munich,
06:44it's been an incredible season so far,
06:46but what I said,
06:48if we have to play tomorrow,
06:50it will be difficult,
06:52but in two weeks,
06:54I don't know,
06:56the position will be,
06:58and the players,
07:00we'll try it,
07:02and we'll see what happens.
07:04Hi Pep, you mentioned
07:06Sevilla won a couple of corners and got a reaction from the crowd,
07:08I wonder what you felt of the atmosphere in general,
07:10it felt quite flat in the first half?
07:12We have to give something to them,
07:14as much as they come,
07:16I love them,
07:18I always ask, please come to join us,
07:20I'd like to do something,
07:22I would love that,
07:24but it's what it is, our crowd,
07:26we have to give them, and we didn't do it,
07:28look what happened in the moment,
07:30in the second half,
07:32we were out,
07:34they realised we were out,
07:36and they made a step,
07:38but what I said,
07:40in this type of game,
07:42they had more chances in the second half,
07:44than in the first,
07:46they had two chances,
07:48and in the second half, a lot,
07:50the transitions,
07:52they were close,
07:54in the first, no,
07:56you have to lift your soul,
07:58your bones, your heart,
08:00go, go,
08:02put the ball in the box,
08:04and I think we did it.
08:10Pep, you've talked about
08:12the thousand million problems,
08:14and the injuries and everything,
08:16and leading to this point,
08:18how do you rate the performances at the moment,
08:20because there are so many problems
08:22on the counter attack,
08:24facing midfield,
08:26but you've still got this ability to generate
08:28these comebacks,
08:30like at the weekend and today,
08:32and you can still scare teams,
08:34with the quality that you've got,
08:36so overall,
08:38how do you feel about the team?
08:40I would love to concede a counter attack,
08:42like we have been in one decade,
08:44that the games can be better or worse,
08:46but now, for the absence that we have,
08:48and midfield players,
08:50we are an old team,
08:52Pogundo 33,
08:54Mateo, the same,
08:56and we don't have replacements,
08:58so we play a lot of minutes,
09:00so that's why it's so great for Pogundo,
09:02for us, Don, and Kovac,
09:04and of course Kevin, to come back as possible,
09:06that is a reality, and that's why I'm a little bit scared,
09:08you know, to play these transitional games,
09:10against Liverpool,
09:12Arsenal, Newcastle,
09:14Aston Villa, Brighton,
09:16they are miles away better than us,
09:18but this game in the second half,
09:20OK, I accept the transition,
09:22but you have to score goals,
09:24and still have the quality,
09:26because we have the quality
09:28to do it,
09:30but every season is different,
09:32the problems that we have are different,
09:34and we have to accept it,
09:36but at least lately,
09:38we are getting results,
09:40except the defeat in Paris Saint-Germain,
09:42they are an incredible team,
09:44approved today again, beating Stuttgart 1-4,
09:46so we are getting results,
09:48and still in the Champions League,
09:50look at the season that has been,
09:52I would say, not really, really good,
09:54we lost a lot of games, we are 4 in the Premier League,
09:56so still we are, not to win the title,
09:58fight against Liverpool, Arsenal,
10:00no way, but still we are there,
10:02and OK, if we are there,
10:04win the next round, and we'll see,
10:06we'll see in two weeks what happens,
10:08what I said before, sometimes you have the perspective,
10:10ah, it's impossible today,
10:12but tomorrow, the mindset,
10:14the vibes, you know,
10:16change, and I'm pretty sure,
10:18we will try, we will create problems,
10:20Madrid or Bayern Munich,
10:22I don't know the opponent,
10:24I'm pretty sure that something,
10:26we are able to do,
10:28because these players have something also special,
10:30and yeah, we will try to do it.
10:32Do you have any questions from Belgian press?
10:36Any?
10:38We'll just do one last one with Hulli then, in that case, please.
10:42Sorry,
10:44it's only a flippant one really, I just wanted to ask you
10:46if your foot was alright, because you gave that
10:48box of Gatorade a pretty big
10:50kick. Sorry, sorry mate.
10:52I just wanted to ask if your foot
10:54was OK, because you kicked that
10:56box of Gatorade pretty hard.
10:58I know, I'm fine, I'm fine.
11:00I wasn't, you are so young,
11:02you don't recognise, but I was a really
11:04top player,
11:06I was really good,
11:08I was incredible holding midfielder,
11:10move the ball quicker, it was so slow,
11:12but that's why maybe I don't want
11:14the transitional
11:16actions in the team,
11:18because I could not handle it, but it was really good.
11:20My feet, maybe it's only part of my body that
11:22feels it.
11:24Thank you guys.