MX23RW : Wednesday, April 7 03:36:28| >> :120:16580:16580:

Pep Guardiola urges Man City to "forget about quarter-finals"

Pep Guardiola urges Man City to
© Reuters
City are into the last eight again as they target a quadruple.

Pep Guardiola urged his quadruple-chasing Manchester City players to forget about the Champions League after they eased into the quarter-finals.

City secured their place in the last eight of Europe’s elite competition for a fourth successive year as they outclassed Borussia Monchengladbach in Budapest on Tuesday, winning 2-0 to wrap up a comfortable 4-0 aggregate success.

Reaching the semi-finals for the first time under Guardiola is the next challenge in the showpiece competition but, with three other trophies still to play for, the City boss wants to switch focus to the next game.

City are back in action on Saturday as they face Everton in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup at Goodison Park.

Guardiola said: “Everyone is fit – 20 players – but everything can change immediately, in one day.

“We play one more game, then international break, and I don’t know how we’ll react after it. We have Leicester, Champions League, Leeds, Champions League. I don’t know what will happen.

“That’s why the best thing we can do is forget about the quarter-finals and just focus on playing the best way, try to win the games. If we deserve it we’ll go through and if we don’t we’ll be out.

“Now Everton. We will see what happens in the next game and when the quarter-finals are drawn. We will see. I’m happy to be there for a fourth time and we will try to do a good game.”

Guardiola felt his players delivered a professional performance to book their quarter-final place.

They looked comfortable throughout and goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan inside the first 18 minutes put the tie beyond any doubt.

City eased through in Budapest with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan
City eased through in Budapest with goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan (Trenka Atilla/PA)

Guardiola said: “It was a good performance, (it was) under control for 90 minutes from the beginning.

“We arrived here with good result, we cannot deny that, but this competition can be tricky. We were serious but after the two magnificent goals everything became easier. The way we played was really good.”

Monchengladbach coach Marco Rose acknowledged his side had been outplayed. It was his side’s seventh successive defeat since it was announced Rose would leave the club at the end of the season for Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Rose said: “There was lots of confidence but we have to recognise an opponent that was too strong for us.

“The team tried to do what they could. We had shots but if you allow City to have shots then you won’t get very far. We have to take chances if we get them.

“We came here with a good feeling but then we faced this quality. The lads are disappointed and there won’t seem to be any positives at the moment, but there are positives we can take for the next weeks.

“The most important thing for me, even though Man City were far superior, was the way the lads put effort into the game and stood up. It is just difficult against that team.”

ID:439506:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:collect7591:

Click here for more stories about Pep Guardiola

Click here for more stories about Manchester City

Collect / Create New Data
Share this article now:
Did you know...?
Sports Mole Logo
Enter your email address to subscribe to Sports Mole's free match previews newsletter! Updates are sent twice a week.

rhs 2.0
Todays Game Header Right
Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City31235366214574
2Manchester UnitedMan Utd30179458332560
3Leicester CityLeicester30175853341956
4West Ham UnitedWest Ham30157848371152
5Chelsea30149746301651
6Tottenham HotspurSpurs30147951321949
7Liverpool30147951361549
8Everton29145104138347
9Aston Villa291351142311144
10Arsenal30126124035542
11Leeds UnitedLeeds30133144748-142
12Crystal Palace30108123248-1638
13Southampton30106143953-1436
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves3098133041-1135
15Burnley3089132440-1633
16Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton30711123338-532
17Newcastle UnitedNewcastle3078153050-2029
18Fulham31511152441-1726
19West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom3049172559-3421
20Sheffield UnitedSheff Utd3042241752-3514

Subscribe to our Newsletter


Transfer Talk Daily
Match previews - twice weekly
Morning Briefing (7am UTC)
Ultra close-up image of Kevin De Bruyne [NOT FOR USE IN ARTICLES]Get the latest transfer news, match previews and news direct to your inbox!