Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, has admitted that the Premier League Champions are at risk of missing out on qualification for next season’s UEFA Champions League.
Speaking in a prematch conference ahead of their Boxing day fixture against Everton, the 53-year old warned that their current slump might mean missing out on a place in Europe’s top tier competition in the 2025/26 season.
“When I said before, people laughed, they said, ‘qualifying for the Champions League is not a big success’.
But I know it because it happens with clubs in this country. They were dominant for many years and after they were many years not qualifying for the Champions League”, Guardiola said.
The Cityzens have won just once in their last 12 matches in all competitions. They are currently seventh in the Premier League standings and are four points behind fourth-placed Nottingham Forest with 17 games played.
“The one team that has been in the Champions League for the past years has been Manchester City”, he added.
“Now we are at risk, of course we are. Definitely.”
Manchester City host Everton at the Etihad on Boxing day before traveling to the Kings Power Stadium to face Leicester City three days later in a busy festive period schedule.
“There are a lot of contenders. For every club it is so important and if we are not winning games, we will be out.
If we don’t qualify it is because we don’t deserve it, because we were not prepared and because we had a lot of problems and didn’t solve them”, he continued.
The Cityzens will hope to end their recent slump as they face a run of winnable matches in the next few games starting with the match against the Toffees.
Olakitan is a young writer with a strong passion for sports, having gained experience with IndyPress and Nimelssa Press. His enthusiasm for sports inspired him to cover events both within his school and beyond. With a deep understanding of the game and a refined skillset, he brings sports coverage to a broad, global audience in a way that’s engaging and accessible.
