Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City will not be distracted by having to play Barcelona next week as they prepare for the visit to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
A significant number of Spanish journalists turned up to ask the City manager which of two very different games he would make his priority, a question less easy to answer now that Guardiola is looking for his first win in seven matches when he makes his first trip to the Hawthorns.
City remain top of the Premier League but at six matches Guardiola is already on the longest winless sequence of his managerial career.
“The answer is always the same, we go game by game and the next match is always the most important,” Guardiola said. “We will only begin to talk about Barcelona on Sunday.”
Bizarrely Guardiola was asked in Spanish whether there was any truth in a rumour linking him to Real Madrid. That brought a smile, at least. “I don’t think Real Madrid need a manager like me,” he said. “I’m a follower of Barcelona.”
Guardiola has not encountered a Tony Pulis team before, though he knows a lot about his opponents on Saturday through talking to his players.
“West Brom play a physical game and a counter-attacking game,” he said. “I am aware of the danger posed by Salomon Rondon, and I expect he will try to play long balls for him to hold up. We will have to try and adapt our game, but that happens all the time. Every game is different, every opponent is different, and you have to find a way to deal with it.
“I have heard a lot about Tony Pulis and I would like to congratulate Tony Pulis on his new contract at West Brom. I have been speaking with my players and I understand he made it almost impossible for visiting teams to win at Stoke City.
“Looking at our own game I don’t think we are too far from where we want to be, despite our run of results. We are creating enough chances to win games but we need to make better decisions in and around the box.”
