Pep Guardiola admits his reign at Manchester City will be judged on whether he can lead the club to Champions League success.
City face RB Leipzig in the second leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday evening, with the aggregate score level after a 1-1 draw in Germany.
Guardiola’s side are looking to reach the competition’s quarter-finals for a sixth straight season, but a maiden success in the Champions League has proven elusive for the club in recent campaigns.
Guardiola – whose last triumph in this competition came with Barcelona in 2011 – has admitted that his spell at the Etihad will be judged on whether he can lead City to a first Champions League title.
“Yes,” he told his pre-match press conference when asked if success in Europe would define his tenure.
“It doesn’t mean I agree with that but absolutely we will be judged by this competition. Since day one when I arrived here they asked me are you here to win the Champions League. I accept it. It’s not going to change.”
Leipzig arrive at the Etihad in good form after three wins from their last four Bundesliga fixtures, including a 3-0 thrashing of Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.
The German side punished City’s failure to convert their first-half chances in the first leg and Guardiola is expecting another difficult challenge in the return.
“Every team at this stage has a lot of qualities and many strengths. Tomorrow we have to impose our game and do what we have to do. We have to win the game, so it is easy. It is not about how many goals we have to score, it is just to win the game – that is what we have to do.”
