Pep Guardiola: 'Manchester City comparable to Barcelona, Bayern Munich'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 30 December 2017

Guardiola: 'City comparable to Barca, Bayern'

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola claims that the spirit in his current squad to comparable to his Barcelona and Bayern Munich teams.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed that the spirit in his current squad is comparable to his spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Guardiola won 21 trophies during his time in Spain and Germany and, while he went through his first season in English football without silverware, he looks well on course to add to his impressive haul this term.

City currently sit 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table and remain in the Champions League, EFL Cup and FA Cup too, and Guardiola stressed that it was an effort from all of the staff at the club, both on the pitch and behind the scenes.

Asked whether the spirit compares to his previous clubs, Guardiola told reporters: "Definitely, and not just the team - the staff. Every day I say thank you for my physios and doctors - people like that. They are involved. They support, encourage the players and we all move forward. I cannot do it alone. They help me.

"The team spirit, people speak about how we celebrate the goals, that is simple to see but that is not the real situation where it happens. The real situations are how the players who are not playing celebrate, how they are warming up, how they are on the bench, in the locker room, every day, not just after the games.

"You can ask other managers when they have success, when they win titles. Always they have in common the group is strong. Not 11 players, the group. Everybody wants to win, everybody dreams to do that. When that happens everything can happen."

Guardiola could equal a record set by his Bayern team on Sunday if City rack up a 19th successive victory in one of Europe's top five leagues.