Man City have identified Florian Wirtz as a transfer target ahead of another round of squad rebuilding, with an awareness that strengthening in midfield in an era after Kevin De Bruyne is paramount.
Phil Foden is seen as being capable of partnering Florian Wirtz at Man City in a way Jamal Musiala has for Germany.
Phil Foden is seen as being capable of partnering Florian Wirtz at Man City in a way Jamal Musiala has for Germany.
Press Conference: Bernardo Silva & Pep Guardiola will face the media shortly ahead of the second-leg UCL last-16 play-off tie vs. Real Madrid [A] on Wednesday night.
Full coverage coming up.🎙️
Full coverage coming up.🎙️
Pep Guardiola on Jack Grealish's consistency to play twice a week: “Hopefully until the end of the season he can get it.”
“The pressure is there, but it's more than welcome; you cannot perform well without pressure... It depends how we play, how we handle the moments, in the biggest stadiums, the bad moments that you have to suffer will be there and try to reduce them as much as possible.”
“The pressure is there, but it's more than welcome; you cannot perform well without pressure... It depends how we play, how we handle the moments, in the biggest stadiums, the bad moments that you have to suffer will be there and try to reduce them as much as possible.”
Pep Guardiola: “You have to make an almost-perfect game [vs. Real Madrid]. The [first-leg] result was not good. Always we come with more or less a good result, but the result is not the perfect situation. We have to attack, we have to score goals - this is the idea.”
“Still we have a lot to play for; qualify for the UCL next season, Europe right now still we are there, FA Cup, the World Cup at the end of the season.”
“In terms of the Man City players and their futures, a decision has not been made because it depends how their performance will be until the end of the season.”
“Still we have a lot to play for; qualify for the UCL next season, Europe right now still we are there, FA Cup, the World Cup at the end of the season.”
“In terms of the Man City players and their futures, a decision has not been made because it depends how their performance will be until the end of the season.”
Pep Guardiola on whether the referees for Real Madrid vs. Man City could be affected by the ongoing criticism in Spanish media: “I don't think so... I'm pretty sure the referees, when there is scrutiny and you're in front of the whole of Europe, all around the world, there is not a human being that doesn't want to perform well.”
On the Santiago Bernabeu: “I have incredibly good memories in this stadium... Always I have incredibly good memories when coming here, never it's been easy, when I was a football player with Barca, and after as a manager, or at Bayern Munich, Man City. Always it's been tough, we know that. The history, but always we have good memories, good moments.”
“Rarely, rarely, rarely I talk about the referees with my players.”
On the Santiago Bernabeu: “I have incredibly good memories in this stadium... Always I have incredibly good memories when coming here, never it's been easy, when I was a football player with Barca, and after as a manager, or at Bayern Munich, Man City. Always it's been tough, we know that. The history, but always we have good memories, good moments.”
“Rarely, rarely, rarely I talk about the referees with my players.”
Pep Guardiola: “You have to play with courage, you have to be yourself... You have to play with incredible courage, you have to play to win the game.”
“We'll have a good dinner, we'll prepare a good game.”
On Man City having a 1% chance of winning at Real Madrid: “This time I lied to you.”
“We'll have a good dinner, we'll prepare a good game.”
On Man City having a 1% chance of winning at Real Madrid: “This time I lied to you.”
Pep Guardiola on the incident involving Jude Bellingham and swearing at a referee: “My English is good but I've never understood 'F**k off' or 'F**k you', so give me a little bit more time in England so I will maybe understand it more properly.”
On the referee Jude Bellingham swore at/towards: “I read that there is an investigation... WOW! Come on! Leave him [the referee] alone, leave him alone, it's the best thing we can do. Leave him alone!”
On the referee Jude Bellingham swore at/towards: “I read that there is an investigation... WOW! Come on! Leave him [the referee] alone, leave him alone, it's the best thing we can do. Leave him alone!”
Bernardo Silva: “A team is never perfect; Real Madrid, Man City, any - there is no perfect team! There are always ways to find weaknesses in a team, and there are some things that they don't do that well. I think that we have things that we do better than Real Madrid, and I think Real Madrid does things better than us. It is about finding a way to bring the game to a zone where we feel more comfortable.”
“When you score an important goal in a competition like this, in a stadium like this, against Real Madrid, it's always very beautiful. Your dreams when you were a kid come true.”
“When you score an important goal in a competition like this, in a stadium like this, against Real Madrid, it's always very beautiful. Your dreams when you were a kid come true.”
That is the end of Bernardo Silva and Pep Guardiola's pre-Real Madrid UCL press conference.
Pep Guardiola: “We've always been a machine. We can be beaten in minute 94 but we have been a machine for eight years, every three days - nobody has done that in England, in history.”
“Our four central defenders have been together for 90 minutes in three months... TOGETHER, THREE MONTHS, 90 MINUTES! This happens to Real Madrid, Arsenal, many teams because of the season, it's unsustainable! There's an increasing amount of games.”
“Let's see if we can at least scare them [Real Madrid], and we'll see what happens.”
“Our four central defenders have been together for 90 minutes in three months... TOGETHER, THREE MONTHS, 90 MINUTES! This happens to Real Madrid, Arsenal, many teams because of the season, it's unsustainable! There's an increasing amount of games.”
“Let's see if we can at least scare them [Real Madrid], and we'll see what happens.”
Bernardo Silva on his memories of playing Real Madrid: “It's a mix of emotions; we knocked them out of the UCL twice, they knocked us out twice. So now it's the fifth time that we go against each other. When you get knocked out twice, it's always not nice, and especially the way that some of them were.”
“I'm sure it's going to be a very good game tomorrow, and we're looking forward to that.”
“When a team is so successful as Man City in the last seven, eight seasons, you lose a few games, you're not used to it. You have a bad season, a bad few months, and we don't accept it! We don't take well losing, and not winning, and winning, and winning.”
“I'm sure it's going to be a very good game tomorrow, and we're looking forward to that.”
“When a team is so successful as Man City in the last seven, eight seasons, you lose a few games, you're not used to it. You have a bad season, a bad few months, and we don't accept it! We don't take well losing, and not winning, and winning, and winning.”
Bernardo Silva: “I think we're not in the same dark place, especially personally, like we were in November.”
“Knowing that we're not going to win the other most important competition of the season which is the Premier League, it's always a big motivation for us knowing that now we're in a worse place than we were when the UCL tie started, because we were playing at home lost. Still we believe it's possible.”
“When the season started, I wouldn't believe you if you told me we would be in this place in the Premier League, playing against [Real] Madrid in the play-offs and not in the latter stages - quarter-finals, semi-finals... We put ourselves in this situation, so in a way we deserve to be in this complicated situation of having to play such a tough team in the play-offs because we finished 22nd.”
“Knowing that we're not going to win the other most important competition of the season which is the Premier League, it's always a big motivation for us knowing that now we're in a worse place than we were when the UCL tie started, because we were playing at home lost. Still we believe it's possible.”
“When the season started, I wouldn't believe you if you told me we would be in this place in the Premier League, playing against [Real] Madrid in the play-offs and not in the latter stages - quarter-finals, semi-finals... We put ourselves in this situation, so in a way we deserve to be in this complicated situation of having to play such a tough team in the play-offs because we finished 22nd.”
Bernardo Silva: “Always believe that it's possible, always believe no matter what happens in the first 20, 30 minutes of the game stay in the tie, and then follow the plan. We know how good they are in running, countering, putting you under pressure in this stadium and we need to deal with those situations.”
Bernardo Silva says he would volunteer to take a penalty for Man City against Real Madrid on Wednesday night if it came to a shoot-out.
Bernardo: “Definitely I would put my hand up. You only can miss a penalty if you go and take it, and I took it down the middle [last season], the keeper was waiting, it's frustrating, but it is what it is, I have no regrets.”
Bernardo Silva says he would volunteer to take a penalty for Man City against Real Madrid on Wednesday night if it came to a shoot-out.
Bernardo: “Definitely I would put my hand up. You only can miss a penalty if you go and take it, and I took it down the middle [last season], the keeper was waiting, it's frustrating, but it is what it is, I have no regrets.”
Bernardo Silva on Kylian Mbappe: “A great player, very special player, one of the most special in the world right now. But Real Madrid has many different weapons, many ways to hurt you, and you can't focus on one player when you have Rodrygo, Vinicius, Bellingham, Mbappe. You can't just think of one. Think of all of them.”