Pep Guardiola perceives his Manchester City squad as embodying the conviction necessary to clinch another Champions League title. Additionally, he commends the team’s unwavering performance, as demonstrated by their advancement to the quarter-finals of the prestigious European club tournament following a commanding victory over FC Copenhagen. City comfortably secured a 3-1 triumph in the second leg of their last-16 encounter at the Etihad Stadium, thereby sealing a decisive 6-2 aggregate victory. Guardiola articulated, “We exude the confidence to succeed. Despite vying with formidable opponents such as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, our enduring presence in this competition for seven consecutive years underscores our consistency.
“I felt the people when we arrived from a club like Barcelona and Bayern Munich – where they demand to always be there – I felt the club, not the players, didn’t feel it.
“We are here because we needed time. People, managers don’t get time, hierarchies don’t get time. But they gave us time to lose against Monaco, lose against Liverpool, lose against Tottenham – all (part of) the process to do it, because when a team comes from never ever being in that position, you cannot do it.
“It is easy for clubs that have big history – start with the best ones, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Man United – they have been used to it.
“You need time and they gave me time. Now we are in a process where we can lose, definitely, but we can compete everywhere because we’ve come from the final, semi-final, final, now the quarter-finals again. That means our consistency in Europe.”
In a match characterized by significant transformations, City exhibited a routine performance subsequent to securing early goals courtesy of Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez. Although Mohamed Elyounoussi managed to reduce the deficit for the resilient Danish side, they were ultimately overwhelmed by their opponents’ superiority. Erling Haaland’s 29th goal of the season concluded the scoring, sealing City’s dominance in the encounter.
Guardiola said: “We went through against a difficult team. Bayern Munich felt it, Man United felt it, and Galatasaray. They are a difficult opponent, well organised.
“To win the titles we need everyone and we used them. I am really pleased for the performance. People may expect a lot of things but I know how difficult it is.”
Jacob Neestrup, the coach of Copenhagen, expressed his satisfaction with his team’s performance, asserting that their advancement from a challenging group in the European campaign is a notable achievement for the reigning European champions.
He said: “I could not ask for more from my players. I am proud of the campaign we had in the group stage and we advanced to play the best team in the world. I am filled up with pride.
“Obviously, you need to do everything you can because these are moments in your life you will not get back.”