Pep Guardiola has taken the blame for Manchester City’s Champions League failure, admitting last season’s quarter-final defeat by Lyon still haunts him now.
Guardiola, who twice conquered Europe with Barcelona, has failed to even reach a final of the competition in seven attempts with Bayern Munich and City combined.
It is difficult to shake the sense that last season represented City’s best chance of glory after a host of Europe’s giants crashed out. Instead, they were stunned by underdogs Lyon — losing 3-1 in Lisbon. “It was a tough moment,” said Guardiola ahead of tonight’s opener against Porto.
“I felt so responsible for this, how the club and players fought to achieve it, and I was not able to drive them. Still right now I feel responsible watching the game.”
Guardiola, who is in the last year of his contract at City, added: “At every club, not just here, you have to dream with high expectations, but the reality is we have not performed to the level we have to to get through in this competition.”
Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus are all out of tonight’s match, although Oleksandr Zinchenko is available.
