Pep Guardiola is adamant that he’s up for the challenge of turning Manchester City’s season around after the team’s heavy loss to Sporting Lisbon.
Despite Phil Foden giving them an early lead, City suffered a 4-1 defeat in Portugal, marking the team’s third consecutive loss in three different competitions. The Blues are set to face Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday before the November international break.
City’s poor form has handed Liverpool a huge boost in its hopes of winning silverware under Arne Slot. The Reds are two points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table, and they are the only Champions League team with a perfect record of four wins (City has seven points from four games). Liverpool is also through to the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup – a tournament City is out of – and will play Southampton on December 18.
Despite the disappointing result in Lisbon, Guardiola insists he saw many positives and is ready to fight to get City’s campaign back on track. The Etihad boss also couldn’t resist a playful jab at rivals Manchester United while discussing its new manager Ruben Amorim, who was in the Sporting dug-out for the penultimate time on Tuesday before his move to Old Trafford. Here’s every word from the City boss…
Bernardo has said City are in a dark place. Do you see it like that or is it a bigger challenge?
“I don’t agree with him. We played really bad against Bournemouth and really good today The only regret is conceding the third and fourth. The penalties are not necessary. They did a good action at the start of the second half but 44 minutes left and emotionally we were not stable.
We made a really good first half against a top team, we were close to scoring a second and third but emotions are difficult when after two minutes of the second half you are losing 3-1. We knew it would be a tough season at the start but this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players and try it. Life is like this. Maybe the past six Premier Leagues in seven years and four in a row is an exception. Today we played really good, Bournemouth they deserved it.
