MANCHESTER, England — Pep Guardiola said he is convinced Manchester City will beat Club Brugge and book their place in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Guardiola’s team must win at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday to secure a place in the top 24 of the league phase table. Anything less than victory will see City fail to reach the knockout for the first time since the 2012-13 season.
“I appreciate your concern for if we don’t qualify but I think we are going to do it,” Guardiola told a new conference on Tuesday.
“The situation that we have is that we have to win the game and if not we will not continue in this competition.
“We want to go though to have another chance to play another two games to have the chance of the next stages. It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity.”
City have won just two of their seven league phase games and sit outside the top 24. Finishing between 9th and 24th will earn a two-legged playoff for a place in the round of 16.
Club Brugge are one of only two teams going into the final games that mathematically could make the top eight, end up in the knockout play-offs or be eliminated. They are 20th in the table after wins over Aston Villa and Sporting CP and a home draw with Juventus on matchday seven.
“I’ve been here many years in the Champions League and these types of games I’ve played many times,” Guardiola said.
“Sooner or later you have to play them where if you win you go through and if you don’t you go out. We are here for the reasons we know that we have not been good enough and this is a situation we have lived many times.”
City are enduring a difficult season by their own standards, but head into the game against Club Brugge on the back of an impressive 3-1 win over Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.
“It’s obviously a final for us,” defender Josko Gvardiol said. “We want to qualify for the next stage and our confidence is very good, especially after the last game [against Chelsea].
“They are a good team, there is a reason they are here in the Champions League and it is not going to be easy.”
