Pep Guardiola has thrown down the gauntlet to Manchester City fans to prove that THEY have the desire to reach the Champions League semi-final.
The Blues boss has no doubts about his players’ hunger to over-turn a 1-0 deficit in tomorrow night’s quarter-final second leg against Spurs.
But, with the supporters having a lukewarm relationship with Uefa and their competition, and with tickets still on sale, Guardiola challenged them to rise to the occasion.
And he feels those fans might hold the key.
“I told them right now - if tomorrow night they don’t help us … do it for the guys, they are so proud,” he said.
“We need them in our bad moments, at this stage we cannot go through. I’m really curious to how our fans will be.”
City fans can kick up a riot at home, but they are also strangely quiet for long spells, especially when their team has dominated games.
Guardiola said that City’s away support – which out-sang Crystal Palace’s fine home support on Sunday – is always good, but the implication was the home crowd do not hit the same levels.
Gary Neville explains why Manchester United should rest players vs Man City
He hopes that the whiff of adversity from defeat in the first leg will light a fire under those fans – and he called on the kind of noise which helped them past Liverpool in the league in January.
“The Liverpool game would be enough for me, a little bit better,” he said.
“I played many times in that stadium, I’ve arrived many times in quarter finals and semi finals, every time away the support is incredible and we need it.
“I want to see that they want to get to the semi finals, not just the players, the fans too. I want to see that.”
Ilkay Gundogan helps Man City disprove his point at Crystal Palace
Man City should be celebrated for refusing to meet expectations
