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Pep Guardiola’s hilarious response to what motivates him to keep going after so much success as he targets more Champions League glory with Man City against Real Madrid
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has candidly admitted that one of the factors motivating him to continue as a manager, despite having achieved significant success, is his substantial compensation package.
Having led Manchester City to a treble last year, adding to his extensive list of honors with both City and previous clubs Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Guardiola’s tenure has been marked by remarkable achievements. However, his quest for further success faces a significant challenge as his team prepares to face Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League on Tuesday.
“I like this business. They pay me well and I like it,” Guardiola told a press conference when asked what kept him motivated. “I like playing here and I like playing away at Luton Town. When I stop feeling this then I will give up.”
City defeated Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in last year’s Champions League semi-finals, but Guardiola does not expect a repeat performance on Tuesday.
“It’s last season. Two seasons ago we were out here in the last minutes. It looks like a classic between them and ourselves but I don’t have the feeling it is what it is. It’s the same managers but we have new players and they have new players so it will be a completely different game,” he said.
Guardiola pledged his side would take the game to Madrid and not just look to defend ahead of the second leg at the Etihad Stadium next week.
He added: “We have a little advantage with the second leg at home where we play strong and confident but we have to play 90 minutes here and the games are long for different reasons. They will be able to press high, so aggressive. If you can do a good progress, they will drop. But everybody knows the strengths from transitions they have with Rodrygo, Bellingham Valverde, Vinicius.
We cannot come here just to control the game, we have to come her to try to hurt them, to punish them, to let them know we are here to score the goals. We are talking about Real Madrid, the ability to control many aspects of the game. We have to impose our game with who we are.”
The coach has confirmed that Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker will miss the first leg due to injuries, while Josko Gvardiol, who traveled with the squad to the Spanish capital, remains uncertain for the match.
Following their encounter with Madrid, Manchester City will briefly shift their focus back to the Premier League title race before facing Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.