Man City mentality change could lead to Champions League legacy says Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has seen a transformation in Manchester City's approach to the Champions League that sets them up to win the competition again.

Guardiola finally claimed his third European triumph as a coach in 2023 after seven failed attempts with the Blues to go with three for Bayern, and the club hierarchy immediately targeted the kind of domination in the Champions League that they have enjoyed domestically over the last decade. While there hasn't been a specific number targeted, City feel they can go all the distance again.

Former Barcelona and Bayern manager Guardiola certainly believes he is at a club that views the competition very differently to the one he joined back in 2016. It may have taken setbacks and heart-breaking exits along the way, but their performances in reaching two finals and one semi-final in the last three years have convinced the coach that they can go all the way again.

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"We challenge ourselves and challenge the opponents to want to beat you," he said. "We feel it more than ever in the Premier League and in the Champions League we want to do it again.

"We have good characters and personalities in the team with how they react in the bad moments. When I arrived eight years ago I had the feeling maybe this competition was too much for us, but our defeats and bad moments helped us to grow up and be in the position we are - two finals and one semi-final in the last three years - and the whole club has awareness that we can try to be ourselves.

"Before, I felt: 'are you sure Pep, are we ready to do it?' Now the whole organisation believes we can