Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will be ready for 'extraordinary' Newcastle

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists he his players will be ready for the challenge of taking on “extraordinary” Newcastle United on Saturday.

The treble winners secured their fourth trophy this year on Wednesday when they defeated Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup after a penalty shoot-out in Athens.

That only gave City a coupe of days preparation time for the match against Eddie Howe's side, who started their season with a 5-1 demolition of Aston Villa last weekend.

That impressive performance came on the back of last season's fourth-place finish and Guardiola was full of praise for the Magpies and urged home fans to get behind City at the Etihad Stadium.

“They are a Champions League team. If you are in there, you are a really good team. In a short time, since the takeover, I get the feeling they are going to be there for a long, long time.

“Eddie Howe has created a fantastic team in possession, transition and build-up, set pieces. They control everything; it'll be a massive test for us but we are there for that.

“It is a challenge to prove ourselves again. It is never easy in sport, but we need that. Overcoming problems is what defines whether you are a good team or not.

“We need our people more than ever; we cannot be in a stadium looking at how good we are because what we've done before. Tomorrow we need them, from the first minute they'll be important.

“[Newcastle] are an extraordinary team. They continue to do really well for a couple of seasons and they've bought perfect players for the way they play.”

Guardiola also believes Newcastle can challenge for the Premier League title this season, if they can cope with the addition of midweek European games to their schedule.

Last campaign, the Tyneside club only