Pep Guardiola has won the Champions League twice as a manager and each was at the expense of the manager who became a byword for permanence. As the Manchester City manager continues his quest to conquer the continent for the first time since his Barcelona side beat Manchester United in 2011, repeating their 2009 triumph, he reflected on his six-season stay at the Etihad Stadium.
His contract expires next summer and Guardiola has vowed not to emulate a manager who stayed in Manchester for 27 years. “I’m not going to be Sir Alex Ferguson, don’t worry,” he smiled.
City are on course to win a fourth Premier League in five seasons and while he steered them to their maiden Champions League final last year, he is aware some will deem him a failure if the trophy continues to elude him. He is unconcerned. “All the managers we are exposed to getting punished with criticism when we don’t get results,” he said. “Not me, all the managers.”
If he is content, it is because he feels his squad have never been happier. “My feeling is we have an incredible harmony in the team,” he said, deflecting the credit.
“Thanks to the captains, it’s exceptional because of them. This harmony helps because in our last 20 games, we have won 18, drawn one and lost one to Leipzig when we didn’t play for anything. We have an incredible run, behaving well. In Leipzig we were not prepared mentally, having already qualified before that game, but the rest, always we were there, all the time.”
That defeat in a dead rubber in Germany came at a cost, with Kyle Walker sent off then and suspended for Tuesday's last-16 tie against Sporting Lisbon. If it means his fellow full-back Joao Cancelo has an added importance, this is a match with a greater resonance for the Portugal international.
“I’m Benfica, it is the team of my heart,” he said. “I am a Benfica supporter but of course I’m representing City.” In his time at Benfica, he was a team-mate of Ruben Amorim. Now they meet again, with the 37-year-old having led Sporting to their first league title in 19 years. It is a development that took Cancelo aback.
“I was surprised, I never imagined Ruben becoming a manager,” Cancelo said. “I really like the way he works, the way his teams play. Relaxed, humble: he was like that as a player and he’s like that as a coach. He will be a breath of fresh air. He has a young team with desire to win. It’s going to be a great game.”
While Cancelo’s season has progressed superbly on the pitch, it has been a traumatic time off it. He was assaulted in a burglary at his home in December. A player who lost his mother in a car crash when he was 18 has insisted he has emerged stronger.
“It was horrific,” he said. “It terrorised my whole family. I know how to deal with it but my family didn’t deserve to go through that. I lost my mother but had to continue. There’s been lots of obstacles but I had to get over them, I’ve become stronger mentally.”
One of those footballing obstacles was a difficult first season at City. Rather than criticising Guardiola, Cancelo shouldered the blame for his slow start. “It was complications with the coach,” he said. “I hadn’t adapted to the way we played. I came from Juventus with a different way of playing, wanted to enjoy football but it was my responsibility, my fault. I had to recover my desire to win in life and football.”
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