Guardiola has issued a stark warning: Without an urgent turnaround, City’s place in Europe’s elite competition next season is at risk.
Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City face the real possibility of missing out on the next season’s Champions League, a competition they have consistently qualified for over the past 14 years. This run, one of the longest among English clubs, is under threat as City currently sit seventh in the Premier League standings after 17 games.
Trailing fourth-place, Nottingham Forest by four points and fifth-placed Bournemouth by just one, Guardiola’s side finds itself in unfamiliar territory. Despite England’s strong position in UEFA’s European Performance Spot Table, which could secure a fifth Champions League spot, City’s current form leaves their qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
“When I said before, people laughed,” said Guardiola. “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.”
City’s immediate shedule offers a simmer of hope, with upcoming fixtures against Everton, Leicester and Westham – all leagues in the league’s botton seven. These matches provide opportunity to address their poor recent run, which has seen them colllect just four points from their eight games.
“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.”
Historically, clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea have dominated England’s Champions League spots, but their consistency has waned over the years. City’s current challenge comes from less traditional contenders like Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, and Ashton Villa, with Newcastle, Fulham, and Brighton also closing in on Guardiola’s side.
With City losing nine out of their last 12 matches across all competitions, Guardiola acknowledges the pressure. “There are a lot of contenders,” said Guardiola. “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.”
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