Pep Guardiola has ominously warned Manchester City’s opponents that they’ll only become better after beating Real Madrid in their own home. With a 2-1 victory at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, City moved up to fourth position and increased their chances of automatically qualifying for the Champions League.
It was City’s fourth straight victory across all competitions, and as a result, they are now only two points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal. But Guardiola feels that his team have more gears to go through and is positive that they ‘will be better’ in February.
“We are (far) away,” the City manager said to TNT Sports following the game. “We’re still not prepared. We’ll be better in February. We’ve been here before, playing a lot more than we do now, and we’ve lost. That’s football on occasion.” The players made an incredible effort; it was an incredibly good result; the spirit is unbelievable, but there are still margins to improve.”
After Rodrygo put Real ahead, goals from Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland in the first half completely changed the course of the match. Both teams ended up in the play-offs for the appropriate knockout rounds last season, and Real eliminated City.
Guardiola sends Arteta ominous warning as title race heats up
According to a new regulation UEFA established this season, Guardiola’s team would enjoy home advantage until at least the semi-finals if they finished in fourth place. Arsenal, who are atop the Champions League standings, were cited by the former manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich as a potential winner.
“Winning in the Bernabeu is a big, big task, really big task, especially in this competition, don’t misunderstand me,” Guardiola said. However, we are able to go to the semi-finals and finals in February and March, which calls for a higher performance than it does now.
“Just being present is insufficient. There are a lot of positive aspects, and I am really happy for the players’ effort, passion, and soul as well as how they play. However, knowing the players at Anfield, PSG, Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Borussia will make us better.
On Sunday, City will visit Crystal Palace, the day after Arsenal plays Wolves, who are at the bottom of the league. Then, in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals, Guardiola’s team will host Brentford.
