Pep Guardiola: Manchester City made a statement about Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League, while Mauricio Pochettino insists that speculation did not bother the team | football news

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Pep Guardiola said that Manchester City issued a statement beating Paris Saint-Germain, while Mauricio Pochettino denied the speculation about his future that troubled the French team at the Etihad Stadium.

Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus scored as City responded to Kylian Mbappe’s goal to secure a 2-1 win to keep them top of Group A in the Champions League.

City will now qualify for the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year, and despite the defeat, Pochettino, who has been closely associated with the managerial job at Manchester United, saw PSG reach the last 16 after RB Leipzig won 5-0. Success in Club Brugge.

Man City, after reaching the final last year and losing to Chelsea, appears to mean working again in Europe.

1 – Manchester City’s victory ensures that they will top their group in the Champions League for the fifth consecutive season – the second English team to do so in the current format of the competition after Manchester United between 2006-07 and 2010-11. dominant.

– OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 24, 2021 ‘We’re happy to be in the next stage’ Photo: Manchester City celebrate after Gabriel Jesus’ win against PSG

Asked if City’s victory over the star-studded Paris Saint-Germain sent a statement, Guardiola said: “Of course.

“Paris Saint-Germain – what a team, what players, what can I say? We tried to keep these players out of our goal. When they get close to your goal they can do anything.

“Except for five minutes after we waived, when they [went for the] Knockout on the counter-attack but we couldn’t finish the match, we put in a really great performance.

“We are delighted to be in the next stage. Congratulations to everyone at the club. It has been many years of being there.

“Now we will focus on the Premier League and try to arrive in February in the best possible condition to qualify for the quarter-finals.”

Big statement from Man City

Clinton Morrison in Football Special:

“Man City has dealt a huge psychological blow to Paris Saint-Germain.

“It was a good football match and City deserved to win. In the first half it was great. They created so many chances and were the better team. You didn’t really see the Paris Saint-Germain trio in the first half.

“However, in the second half we saw what they could do with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. They scored a really good goal for the team.

“But after that, Man City just came back again. It was a really positive performance from Man City and Pep Guardiola would be happy to get the three points that took the lead in the group.

“It’s a big statement from City against the Paris Saint-Germain star team.”

Pep: I hope we can continue with this photo: Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling celebrates after scoring against PSG

City lost three creative players, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, the latter out on the eve of the match due to a minor injury.

This forced a change of plan with Oleksandr Zinchenko, who played mainly as a left-back under Guardiola, and was recruited into an attacking midfield role.

“We know each other very well and they know what to do,” Guardiola said.

“They are smart enough. Oleks has not played this position much but he is playing there for Ukraine.

“We played really well and the way we are doing really well. People enjoy watching us and we enjoy playing.

“Hopefully we can maintain this for as long as possible.”

Bock on speculation: ‘The players know the situation’

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Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino has refused to “talk about rumours” over speculation linking him to the vacant managerial job at Manchester United.

It was a frustrating night in Manchester for PSG boss Pochettino in a week in which he has been closely linked to the managerial job vacancy across town at Manchester United.

He denied that speculation about his future had upset the stability of the team.

The former Tottenham manager said: “The players know the situation very well – we live in a business where rumours are circulating, sometimes negative, sometimes positive. That is what we say about rumours.”

“We need to look ahead” Photo: Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain celebrates scoring against Man City

Despite the defeat, PSG still qualified for the last 16 as group runner-up.

Pochettino said: “Yes, frustrated, but at the same time, Man City, in the first half, played really well, and they forced us to play deeper. They were very aggressive.

“Honestly, I think we need to give credit to Man City. But, in the second half, it’s true after 0-0 in the first half, we scored, we were calm because we controlled them well. The game changed a bit and we conceded two goals, Man City is a very good team. .

Really pleased to see ManCity beat #PSG tonight because it showed no matter what superstars you have on your team that you can’t carry passengers defensively. PSG can’t win the #UCL with only 7 players defending! #MCIPSG

— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) November 24, 2021

“The goal was to qualify and then be first. But we beat Man City in Parc des Princes, we lost here. The difference here is the draw against Brugge and Leipzig, that’s why we finished second, not because of the two matches we played against Man City.”

He added: “Thanks to Man City, they are a really good team. We are disappointed but we have to look forward.

“We are improving and I am happy in the process. Things are better than they were a month ago and much better than they were two months ago. Little by little the team is improving.”

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