Pep Guardiola aims cheeky dig at Manchester United and fires clear Man City message

Pep Guardiola insists he will relish the challenge of getting Manchester City's season back on track after their thumping defeat at Sporting Lisbon.

City were beaten 4-1 in Portugal despite taking an early lead through Phil Foden and have now lost three matches in a row in three different competitions. The Blues visit Brighton on Saturday in the Premier League before the November international break.

And Guardiola insisted he saw plenty of positives in Lisbon despite the scoreline, and said he is ready for the fight of restoring City's campaign. The Etihad chief also aimed a cheeky dig at rivals Manchester United when discussing their new boss Ruben Amorim, who was in the Sporting dug-out for the penultimate time on Tuesday night ahead of his move to Old Trafford. Here's every word from the City boss.

READ MORE: Man City player ratings vs Sporting as four 4/10s in Haaland nightmare

READ MORE: Man City 42-second meltdown raises serious questions for Pep Guardiola

Bernardo has said City are in a dark place. Do you see it like that or is it a bigger challenge?

"I don't agree with him. We played really bad against Bournemouth and really good today The only regret is conceding the third and fourth. The penalties are not necessary. They did a good action at the start of the second half but 44 minutes left and emotionally we were not stable.

"We made a really good first half against a top team, we were close to scoring a second and third but emotions are difficult when after two minutes of the second half you are losing 3-1. We knew it would be a tough season at the start but this is what it is. I like it, I love it, I want to face it and lift my players and try it. Life is like this. Maybe the past six Premier