Pep Guardiola said he did not expect a repeat of City's 5-0 win over Sporting CP in the 2021/22 season on Tuesday on Matchday 4 of the Champions League. UEFA.
In February 2022, Manchester City left Lisbon with a brilliant 5-0 victory against Sporting. Goals from Mahrez, Sterling, Foden and Bernardo – twice – allowed the team to secure a comfortable margin heading into the second leg of our UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash.
This Monday at a press conference, Pep Guardiola affirmed that the appearance of the match will be different this time, with the City coach expecting a serious test on this occasion.
“It’s a different game. It was in the round of 16. The situation is different and our dynamic, due to the absence of many players, is completely different from what it was back then. »
“They changed players, but they have the same manager and the same mentality. Winning the championship for the first time in 20 years and doing it again last season shows how much he [Rúben Amorim] did a good job. »
City will head to the Estádio José Alvalade third in the UEFA Champions League table, seeking a third successive European victory following successes against Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava.
However, the task will not be easy against a Sporting team who also have seven points from their first three UEFA Champions League matches.
Asked about the state of form of his group, the Catalan gave the latest information on some of his players.
« Erling [Haaland] “I'm fine” Pep said first.
« Kevin [De Bruyne] is better. He is doing sessions and is in less pain, so we think he is becoming more and more comfortable. This is good news for all of us. »
« Manu [Akanji] and Nathan [Aké] are always embarrassed. »
