Manchester City have two crucial games coming up. Before that, coach Pep Guardiola also spoke about the new signings around Omar Marmoush.
Manchester City have not yet fully recovered, even if their results have recently looked much better. That is until Wednesday evening’s Champions League game, when the team in 25th place are actually facing the prospect of being knocked out of the league phase after a playful 2-0 lead in Paris before the last matchday.
City can be fourth as early as Saturday
But at a press conference on Friday, coach Pep Guardiola spoke of two “finals” that lie ahead for him and his team. Before the showdown in the European Cup against Bruges – also a home game – the English champions will host Chelsea on Saturday evening. Fifth against fourth.
If Guardiola’s team lose to the team of his former assistant Enzo Maresca, they will be five points behind in the race for a Champions League place. A win, on the other hand, would see the Skyblues overtake the Blues. Such duels were once referred to as “six-point games”.
The Catalan also described the league showdown before the international showdown as a “really important game” – and City’s three new signings this winter as “future” reinforcements. These are Vitor Reis, Abdukodir Khusanov and, of course, 75-million-man Omar Marmoush.
While Guardiola said that Vitor Reis, the Brazilian defender, “still needs time” and that it may take a while for the Uzbek defender Khusanov to communicate due to his lack of English, the former Frankfurt player Marmoush will “quickly find his feet” according to his new head coach. On the one hand, this sounds like trust, but on the other hand, like expectation. Guardiola is planning “for years” with all three new additions.
The 54-year-old, who likes to be verbally deliberately defensive, made a promise for the short term. A Champions League promise. “We will qualify for the Champions League again, I’m very, very confident about that.” With a win on Saturday, his team would be placed in a corresponding position again.
So the first thing that will be more exciting – at least from a neutral point of view – is whether City will have to wait at least until next season for their next Champions League game after Wednesday.
