Guardiola on City comeback win against Brugges to seal Champions League playoff v Bayern or Real Madrid

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Guardiola on City comeback win against Brugges to seal Champions League playoff v Bayern or Real Madrid  29/01/2025  uefa24

Transcript

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.

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