Guardiola takes blame for Man City exit

Pep Guardiola expects the incentive of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals to conquer any tiredness as Manchester City head to Monaco this week. At Manchester City it’s like this.

Klopp leads Guardiola 5-4 with the pair having also crossed paths during their time in Germany with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively.

Yaya Toure has confirmed to Sky Sports News HQ that he would prefer to remain at the Etihad when his contract expires in the summer, but Guardiola says he was well aware of that.

Back to the drawing board, fresh from the disappointment of Monaco.

Guardiola remains special – 21 trophies in seven years is proof of that – but for now he is playing second fiddle to Chelsea boss Antonio Conte in the Premier League and, incredibly, Leicester City’s rookie boss Craig Shakespeare in the European tournament he most cherishes. We were a little slow in everything we did in the first half, that’s why playing against Europe’s top teams is hard. Speculation has gathered pace in recent weeks that the German worldwide could be on his way out of the club, with his current contract set to expire at the end of next season.

“It will be good to see how everybody reacts, myself and the players, after going out of the Champions League“.

“We changed the system and it worked quite well, we managed to create more chances”, Sagna said, “but unfortunately we didn’t score [enough]”.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice in stoppage time to wrap up the victory at the end of a week when the Everton striker cast doubt on his future at the club. Wijnaldum has netted in his last two league games and could help Liverpool claim all three points. The Premier League title bid faded long ago, falling off the pace after the team was the season’s early front-runner.

“We really have to compare the squads”, Klopp said, via The Independent. City are in the FA Cup semi-final this year yet he accepts this could be a first campaign without one, although he feels more energised than ever.

Guardiola, in fighting mood ahead of Sunday’s clash with Liverpool after a bruising midweek Champions League exit in Monaco, highlighted the fact that he has not broken the bank to sign one player, unlike Mourinho, who paid a world record £89.3million for Paul Pogba. “After that, at this level everyone can beat you, but I don’t like my team to speculate”.

The German has attempted to play down the significance of the encounter, however, while insisting that his side will have to “be at their best to get anything” from the game.

“We need to show consistency”.

Don’t discount Arsenal from forcing either Liverpool or City from the Premier League’s top four. Put these two in a foot race down Clyne’s right hand side and it is on.