Abu Dhabi: Manchester City players will gather together in Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi on Friday to discover who they will face in the Uefa Champions League quarter-final draw from 3pm UAE time.
The English Premier League leaders are in the UAE capital for a five-day training break because they aren’t in this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final after being knocked out by Wigan.
They still won the League Cup, Pep Guardiola’s first trophy since taking charge in 2016, and could now wrap up the Premier League title at home to Manchester United on April 7. But the main prize — City’s elusive first Champions League win — is still all to play for.
“We will watch it together,” City’s Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva said of the draw. “To be in the quarter-final is not easy, so it’s fantastic to be one of the eight best teams in Europe at the moment.
“Of course, it always matters a bit who we get but we will try to win no matter who will play against. Obviously when you have teams like Real and Barca it’s always complicated, but I think we have a good team to do something special and we will try it.
“I think other teams look at us and respect us as well for the football we’ve played this season. Other teams don’t want to draw Man City as well, so we’ll see tomorrow.”
City’s German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan agreed: “At the end of the day you need to play against the best to win this trophy. So, to be honest it doesn’t matter who we get. Maybe we get a bit lucky but at this stage it’s difficult to say, which opponent you would feel lucky about.
- Pep Guardiola » Manchester City manager
“You need to compete with the best to come to the final and I was lucky to play the 2013 final with Dortmund. Unfortunately, we lost so I can’t wait to come back and win it this time and this is the main target.
“It’s important not to lose our focus after securing the Premier League and then I’m quite sure we can transport that into the Champions League.
“It’s about consistency. This season we’ve been very successful but it’s no worth if at the end of the season you’re not there in the big games. At this point we are in a comfortable situation in the Premier League and the big games are in the Champions League. We need to be there to show we are able.
“When you play away to Barca or Munich it’s about personality and having the right attitude to be there and show mentality and also courage to be successful in these big games. This is something still missing but we didn’t have the opportunity in the past to show that but now it feels like the right moment and this is what we need to show.”
City’s German striker Leroy Sane added: “I think we are a real strong team and we understand Pep Guardiola’s philosophy and have improved a lot and know what he wants from us. The Champions League is a really tough tournament and every single game is really special and difficult but I think we have a good chance to come to the final and win the Champions League but it will be really difficult.
“It would be really good for us to win the title as soon as possible to have one target already and it would be also good to know we’ve done one step so now we can focus on another step. So, it would be really good to win the Premier League as soon as possible and have the rhythm to be ready and there for the Champions League.”
