You can see in the league that there is no feeling of satiety at Manchester City after their debut victory in the premier class. The triumph still has an impact, says coach Pep Guardiola before the start on Tuesday (September 19th, 2023, 9 p.m./live ticker at sportschau.de) against Red Star Belgrade.
New signing Randal Kolo Muani from Paris Saint-Germain in a duel with former Bundesliga player Dante.
They just carry on as if nothing had happened. Five games, five wins, 14:3 goals, first place in the Premier League – Guardiola and his team have retained their hunger. With the 3-1 win over West Ham United last Saturday, City kept their pursuers from Liverpool and Tottenham, who had also started very strongly, at bay.
“Very proud of the team”
The coach was very satisfied: “We created a lot of chances during the 90 minutes. I am very proud of the team”said Guardiola after the highly concentrated performance, which may have frustrated the competition a little: Even when the start of the “title defense enterprise” is about to begin, this team also keeps its focus in everyday life.
Pep Guardiola made sure of this by not calling out a big rotation before the duel with the Serbs, but rather calling up very large parts of the team, which will also be first choice on Tuesday: in the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne, the Argentine world champion Juliám Álvarez Currently in the central midfield position, Phil Foden has inherited Riyad Mahrez, who moved to Saudi Arabia, on the right wing.
Doku is now putting pressure on the left
The Belgian jewel Jérémy Doku came from Stade Rennes for 65 million euros and is now putting pressure on the left side, Bernardo Silva, who is indispensable for Guardiola’s architecture, has moved back a little and forms the double six with Champions League hero Rodri.
Erling Haaland is still the focal point up front, and he also continues seamlessly where he left off in the previous season. After five league games he already has seven goals, leading the Premier League, and he also scored against West Ham.
Erling Haaland won the Champions League with Manchester City last season.
Guardiola says something surprising about the prospects for this year’s premier class competition: “It gets easier. The hardest thing is to win for the first time. It was incredible for us. But we’ve only done it once and haven’t achieved anything extraordinary yet.”
Motivated and strong as a motivator
He doesn’t sound like he’s driven by his words; Guardiola also thoroughly enjoyed his triumph after all his unsuccessful attempts. But he, who somehow always seems highly motivated, also obviously knows how to keep the motivation of his employees high.
He asked his professionals a question before the duel with Belgrade: “How many clubs have won the Champions League once?” His answer: ” Many.” But he now wants to move up a league to the clubs that have been able to repeat this great success.
23 winning clubs, but ten flashes in the pan
The fact is: Since the introduction of the former European Champions’ Cup in 1955/56, 23 clubs from ten countries have been on the winners’ list – including city opponents Red Star (1991). Only 13 clubs won the pot twice or more. The ten flashes in the pan include Borussia Dortmund (1997), Hamburger SV (1983) – and since the 1-0 win on June 10th this year, City too.
Real Madrid is ahead with 14 titles
The record winner in this competition is Real Madrid with 14 wins, something Guardiola will most likely no longer be able to do with Manchester. But the chronically ambitious Catalan wants to leave the other nine clubs, who have only made it once, behind them as quickly as possible.