'They pay me well!' - 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

Posted Tuesday, April 09, 2024 by Goal.com

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has admitted that one of the reasons he is still a manager after winning everything is because he is well paid.

WHAT HAPPENED?
The coach won the treble last year with City to add to his already enormous list of honours with the Manchester club as well as previous sides Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Real Madrid stand in his way of more success in the Champions League as the 14-times winners host City in Tuesday's quarter-final first leg.

WHAT GUARDIOLA SAID
"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."

THE BIGGER PICTURE
City hammered Madrid 5-1 on aggregate in last year's Champions League semi-finals but Guardiola does not envisage a similar scenario playing out 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.

DID YOU KNOW?
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."

WHAT NEXT FOR CITY?
The coach confirmed that Nathan Ake and Kyle Walker are out of the first leg with injuries while Josko Gvardiol had travelled with the squad to the Spanish capital but was still a doubt. After facing Madrid City will turn their attentions briefly back to the Premier League title race before taking on Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.