MANCHESTER, England – Manchester City has become so good at UEFA Champions League knockout football that coach Pep Guardiola was able to look beyond the round of 16 second leg against FC Copenhagen and focus on the better way to beat Liverpool.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg, Guardiola rested seven players against the Danish champions at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday in preparation for their Premier League title showdown at Anfield on Sunday. And yet, with a second team on the field, City were still 2-0 up inside 10 minutes, eventually winning 3-1 to advance to the quarter-finals.
It took Manuel Akanji just four minutes and 30 seconds to score the first goal, the only surprise was that it took so long, as Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup suggested before kick-off that his goal was to increase Denmark's UEFA coefficient with a tie. instead of trying to win and pass.
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When Julián Álvarez's shot slipped out of Kamil Grabara's hands and into the net less than five minutes later, Guardiola would have been forgiven if his mind was already plotting plans for Mohamed Salah and Darwin Núñez.
“This competition is very complicated, very dangerous,” said Guardiola. “I told the players, I won't convince them, but we went through against a difficult team. They are a difficult opponent, well organized. I am very happy with the performance. We scored two early goals that helped us a lot. One more year we are among the eight best teams from Europe and we will be there in the draw [for the quarterfinals]”.
Getting through the Champions League playoffs is a luxury that only the most dominant teams are allowed. For the seventh consecutive season, City are in the quarterfinals, the longest active streak in Europe. Guardiola's team has only lost one two-legged tie in the last five years and has reached at least the semi-finals every year since 2021.
The defending champions are favorites to win it again at Wembley in June and there has been very little so far to suggest the prediction is wrong, even with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich lurking elsewhere in the tournament. City eliminated both en route to winning the competition for the first time in their history last season.
When City began qualifying regularly for the Champions League more than 10 years ago, they used to fear facing the continent's heavyweights. Now they are the team to fear.
“I told the players, for me, every time we pass, I know how difficult it is,” Guardiola said. “Today Real Madrid suffered to get past RB Leipzig. People take it for granted. That's good. Our standards are there, but we know that internally it is difficult and everything is very complicated.
“We respect the opponents incredibly, but we have the feeling that the opponents look at Manchester City and say okay, it will be a great battle.”
After five titles won in the last six years, the same is true in the Premier League and the last thing Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp needs is a rested City arriving at Anfield this weekend.
Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nathan Aké, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, who started the win over Manchester United, were named on the bench against Copenhagen, while another, Jérémy Doku, was not at risk. .
After City took a two-goal lead, Mohamed Elyounoussi scored a goal for Copenhagen midway through the first half, but with Erling Haaland making it 3-1 just before half-time, Guardiola felt confident enough to remove Rodri, perhaps his best moment. important player, facing the second half.
Rúben Dias, another sure starter at Anfield, was substituted before the 70th minute and Haaland retired before the end. When the final whistle blew, the only players on the pitch likely to start against Liverpool were Stones (himself coming on as a second-half substitute) and Éderson.
“[I’ll talk] about Liverpool on Friday,” said Guardiola, as attention quickly turned to City's next game. “Today I need energy and fresh legs, you don't know how tired and exhausted my players were.
“Normally, when you play on Wednesday, they let you play on Saturday. We play on Sunday. We need fresh legs. We were lucky, lucky to score two goals early.”
Even for serial winners like City, Anfield remains a formidable place to go. They have only won there once in more than 20 years and no manager can top Klopp's 12 wins over Guardiola. Klopp, however, still has to worry about the Europa League tie against Sparta Prague on Thursday before he can focus on making the 13. Guardiola, meanwhile, was thinking about Liverpool even before the start of the match against Copenhagen, and as far as the big game is concerned. As preparations go, he couldn't have asked for much more from City's warm-up.
