Manchester City are out of the Champions League earlier than expected and Pep Guardiola is once again having to hit back at his critics.
Barely a week goes by without Pep Guardiola’s future at Manchester City being addressed, with rumours continuing to circle that he will be gone by the end of the season.
The ex-Spain international’s contract expires next year anyway, but with Man City struggling for a second consecutive season, it is believed he could exit the club even sooner.
It seems this expectation is getting to Guardiola, as he was not impressed by one of the questions he received after the 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola says everyone wants to fire him
If Guardiola does leave Manchester City this summer, he will have no further opportunities to win them another Champions League trophy.
The manager was asked in his post-match press conference about maybe only winning in total during his time at the Etihad Stadium, a question which rubbed him up the wrong way.
Guardiola said: “Everybody wants to fire me, right?! Oh my, guys. One day I will come here and say bye bye, guys. Still I’m here with one-year contract!
I have to win six Champions Leagues to be recognised. Yeah, for sure. After Barcelona won the treble and sextuple, since then if I don’t win the treble and sextuple, my teams are a failure. I know that, since day one.
First season here, ‘When are you going to win the Champions League?’ 100 points, ‘When are you going to win the Champions League?’ At the end we won it, ‘Why haven’t you won five Champions Leagues?’”
He added: “We tried. We have been in another final, a lot of semi-finals. This club, we arrived to make the bar a little bit higher in terms of Champions League.”
Guardiola does not sound like a man who is about to quit Man City
Every time Guardiola feels he is receiving unfair treatment, he refuses to sit there and take it. There is still fire in his belly and the way he speaks does not sound like that of a person who is about to walk away from their job.
Guardiola has been an easy target for the media in recent weeks and he will very much be feeling like he has a point to prove.
Ending his time in Manchester with two successive seasons without a trophy will not be what the City boss has in mind. Of course, this might not happen, but he is not going to win the Champions League or Premier League.
Surely he will be looking to stay and see out his contract, giving himself one final crack at the two most desirable pieces of silverware on offer.
