Guardiola refuses to rule out Copenhagen despite City's 3-1 first leg win in Denmark

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00:00 Evening, guys, same process as yesterday evening,

00:03 please, if you can raise your hands and we'll come to as many of you as we can.

00:06 Start with Jamie here, please.

00:08 Yeah, please.

00:10 Hi, Pep, congratulations.

00:13 Just wondering how you view the rest of this tie, please?

00:16 And also may I ask you about Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku's injuries,

00:19 potentially, please?

00:21 Oh, Jeremy, I think he's fine.

00:23 Sorry, Bernardo Silva, sorry.

00:26 Bernardo has a big knock in his ankle.

00:30 And I didn't speak with the doctor,

00:33 but it looks like muscular attack, but it's a pity,

00:36 because the last few days,

00:39 he was in his mood and training session much, much better.

00:42 And he was playing really good, really good.

00:46 He helped us to play in the right tempo against the teams,

00:49 and especially in the first leg in the finals.

00:51 You cannot just play so slow, but you cannot play so fast

00:55 in the teams like Incredible Organised.

00:58 You have to find the right moment, right tempo, and Jack helped us a lot.

01:02 But, yeah, hopefully he can recover quick.

01:06 So he looked very upset as well. How was he afterwards?

01:10 Yeah, he felt it, I think, when we were on the grass and he started to complain.

01:15 I said, "Mm-hm, there's something muscular."

01:18 The players know, they feel it immediately.

01:21 In general, with the match, are you pleased with how your team,

01:25 after conceding the equaliser, that they could control the game afterwards?

01:29 We played really, really good, the right tempo should play.

01:32 I know the game against Munich United is a really difficult team,

01:38 that's why the third goal helped us a lot,

01:41 to manage a little bit better, more calm the game there.

01:45 But we know each other better now,

01:48 so they will prepare something, but we'll prepare something too.

01:51 And, of course, the first game in the last 16 always ends,

01:56 so leave it anxious.

01:58 And the team, the players behave and perform again, very, very good.

02:04 Simon?

02:05 Pep, you spoke about Copenhagen's physicality before the game,

02:08 were you disappointed that you didn't get more protection from the referee?

02:14 Well, we knew it, we talked about that, every time we come here they are so aggressive,

02:19 but we had to handle it, I think the referee did a good job,

02:23 what can I say, so at the end they have to manage that.

02:27 It's what it is, so hopefully Bernardo is not a big issue,

02:33 and the rest of the... Yeah, in a few days we have Chelsea at home,

02:38 we have to recover as quickly as possible.

02:40 But you must have been pleased with the discipline that your players showed?

02:43 Yeah, yeah, yeah.

02:45 I don't know how many chances we got to see it, the amount we had,

02:50 knowing that it's really, really difficult.

02:53 As a team they don't come to take the ball, they defend the space.

02:57 They wait, you lose the ball, you make a mistake,

03:00 you don't see the players, they come to press,

03:03 they defend the space, look at each other.

03:06 That's why I have to be so patient and move to the right moments,

03:11 I see a lot of right, left, left, right, move them in the right moments,

03:15 attack them so they don't concede the transitions,

03:18 and the five players in behind were brilliant in that,

03:22 and after the quality of the players that Kevin today was involved in,

03:27 the three goals and the feel, everyone was really, really good.

03:31 I'm really pleased.

03:33 Pep, with Jack you said it's muscular, will that be a few weeks?

03:37 I didn't speak with him, yeah, muscular, he wants to continue,

03:41 but we're not going to do that much, even in the wards.

03:45 So I didn't speak with the doctors,

03:48 I'll make a test tomorrow, but I think a few days we'll be out.

03:52 And Kovacic and Gladio weren't here, were they serious?

03:56 Kovacic, Josko, yeah, two weeks, three weeks,

04:00 have a ligament in the ankle, and Kovacic is depressed to come back.

04:06 I think Thursday or Friday maybe we'll train with us and we'll see how he feels.

04:10 Unfortunately it was two inches of training sessions,

04:13 it's a big blow, but with the schedule we have we need the players fit,

04:18 and unfortunately now every game, every training session we lose players,

04:22 and that is not good.

04:24 Pep, you talked about how hard Jack's been working to get back to his best,

04:30 and today was the first time we've seen him start for a while,

04:33 how does that mean for him personally?

04:35 A lot, a lot. I don't want to see the players injured when they try to do it,

04:41 of course. That's part of the business.

04:44 How happy was Jack before the game to find out he was starting tonight?

04:47 Yeah, of course I was happy.

04:50 I never... my career, today I made my 900 games as a manager,

04:54 I never found a player when I say 'you play', I'm happy, never, ever.

04:58 I think I will not be happy in my future 900 games.

05:03 We'll go to Rob there, please.

05:05 Obviously the way that Copenhagen have played against Bayern and United

05:08 show that they're a very tough team, but tonight you've had 27 shots,

05:11 they've had one shot on target, you've made it look relatively easy,

05:14 does that show how much belief you've got in this competition?

05:17 I know. You know how difficult it is when people believe it's easy,

05:20 make it easy, and it was not.

05:22 Ask Bayern Munich and Man United how easy they are.

05:28 It's a really, really tough game, a tough opponent, because I know it.

05:32 We make good meetings today, I show you the perfect, perfect images,

05:36 the perfect concepts so the players understand which type of game

05:40 they're going to face tonight.

05:43 So this is my job, always make a warning to the players,

05:46 so the team going to play, they have these attributes,

05:49 this strength as a team, and they prove it, they felt it.

05:56 But we behave with the character, personality, the patience,

06:03 and everyone was top, top level.

06:07 Otherwise you don't make these results in Europe in any final.

06:12 It's not a decisive game, it's a really, really good result,

06:15 and hopefully with our people we can make the next step

06:18 and go to the quarter-finals.

06:23 Pep, you already said some of the things,

06:26 but can you just tell what Copenhagen did against you tonight

06:30 that made it difficult for you?

06:32 And have you been able to say something to Jakob Nistrup after the game?

06:36 No, I said hi, shake hands, we'll see in a few weeks in Manchester.

06:43 They're so compact, different structure, different structure

06:47 in the first half, the second one, but the concept is the same.

06:52 These type of games you want to attack quicker than expected,

06:56 they make a transition that you suffer a lot.

06:58 And we want to make a right tempo, no slow, no fast,

07:01 to make this incredible stadium, the people are behind, so slow.

07:07 I had the manager, I said, "OK, when you start in a big, big stadium

07:10 with a lot of crowd and shout and the pressure, make 1,000 passes.

07:15 It's not allowed to score a goal, just passes."

07:19 And the stadium went down.

07:21 This is what we tried to build.

07:25 I said, "You have to play a lot with Phil and Jack, Jack and Phil,

07:28 Phil and Jack, in the right moment, make runners and make switch of plays."

07:32 In the first half, they were really perfect.

07:34 Second half, they played with five in the back, the space was not there.

07:37 But that's why we had to prepare, and that was second leg,

07:40 in which we were going to play and try to find the spaces

07:43 because they are not.

07:46 So I saw the games against United, home and away, and Bayern Munich,

07:51 and how difficult it was for them.

07:54 And I knew it, and the players knew it, and they follow us,

07:58 and they play that way, and that's why I'm really pleased.

08:03 Finish with Sam, please.

08:04 Hi, Pep. That second leg's next month, and you look at the games next month,

08:09 United, Liverpool, Brighton, Arsenal.

08:11 Good.

08:12 I mean, seasons go, that feels like the big month, doesn't it?

08:15 Arsenal, Aston Villa.

08:16 I know all the schedules the next six, seven games I have in my mind.

08:19 All of them, yeah.

08:20 Yeah, that's good.

08:21 We're going to prepare the game this one, knowing that the season's not there,

08:25 but it's one game at a time.

08:26 So always we did that theory, so it doesn't matter.

08:29 Now it's Chelsea, you know?

08:31 Come for the best moment of the season, they play really well against Aston Villa,

08:35 and I saw yesterday in the hotel, we saw the game against Crystal Palace,

08:39 and they play with a huge personality.

08:42 But now it's recovered, and Chelsea, next one.

08:45 Don't think far away, arrive a moment, we play against Copenhagen,

08:50 and we are going to prepare it.

08:52 Thank you, guys.

08:54 Have a lovely evening.

08:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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