15 March 2024 , 10:24
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Pep Guardiola admits that Manchester City are "scared" by the prospect of facing Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The draws for both the last eight and the semi-finals of this year's competition will be conducted at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland at 11am UK time on Friday. After brushing aside Danish giants Copenhagen 6-2 on aggregate in the round-of-16, holders City are the favourites to win the Champions League for the second time in their history.
Plenty of A-list clubs are still in the hunt, though, with City's Premier League title rivals, Arsenal, among the remaining teams as well as Guardiola's beloved Barcelona. Then there's Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, who Guardiola would seemingly prefer to face instead of the aforementioned trio.
After Bayern, Real and PSG also made it through last week, the City manager explained: "If you play against Bayern Munich, how many Champions Leagues they have and the history they have. We respect all of them, we are scared, too. I don't know if they are but we are."
Since his comments, four more teams have advanced to set up a mouth-watering draw. City have already beaten those three big-name sides in the knockout stages during Guardiola's supreme tenure, so fans would likely be a bit more confident than their boss is making out.
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Drawing in-form Arsenal would surely make supporters apprehensive, as City have crashed out on all three occasions when they've been drawn against a fellow English side in the Champions League. First, it was Liverpool in the 2018 quarter-finals, then Tottenham in the following year's last eight before losing the final to Chelsea in 2021.
Your turn! Which ties do you want to see in the Champions League quarter-finals? Let us know in the comments section.
Pep Guardiola would prefer to avoid the likes of Real Madrid (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)In fact, City's record against English clubs in Europe stands at a dismal one win and six defeats from seven games. A reunion with Barcelona would no doubt be emotional for Guardiola, as not only would he return to his home of Catalunya but he'd also face off against Xavi, the midfield linchpin of his all-conquering Barca side of the late noughties and early 2010s.
Xavi was still playing when Barcelona beat Guardiola's Bayern over two legs in the 2015 semi-finals, with the La Liga heavyweights going on to win the competition. In more promising recent history, Atletico and Dortmund are two more teams which City have beaten in the knockout stages since Guardiola took charge.