(^62) DAILY MIRROR FRIDAY 30.08.2019
DM1ST
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW CAN CITY
Pep’s teams
have been
incredible in
the League
but he must
change strategy
to win in Europe
...and be a City
legend forever
JERMAINE JENAS
Never ducks football’s big talking points
ON MANCHESTER CITY
ANFIELD
HELL AT
SHARP
END..
LIVERPOOL are a monster in Europe.
Year on year they’ve become one of
the scariest clubs to visit for
continental rivals.
They are a powerhouse – like Juve,
Barca, Real Madrid, Manchester United,
Bayern Munich. And their reputation is
only growing.
In Madrid for the Champions League
final in June before Jurgen Klopp
(above) got his hands on the trophy,
nothing stood out for me more than
Liverpool’s fan base swamping the city.
Liverpool is the place where no one
wants to go. Ask any player now where
would you prefer to play in a semi-
final... Barcelona, Madrid, Turin, Milan,
Paris? You’d rather go to any of those
at the sharp end than Anfield.
Anfield is like sacred ground in the
latter stages when Liverpool start to
get that momentum.
Players believe. Fans believe. They
are never dead in a game, they produce
top football that can tear teams apart.
Unlike Pep, I’d say 100 per cent
Klopp would choose to win the League
above anything else. They have six
European crowns, so they are not
craving it. But 20-odd years in the
Premier League and they ARE craving
that... they are desperate for it.
Still, being holders will add a swagger
when Liverpool venture into Europe
once more – shoulders back, chests
puffed out, so proud.
It will be special for the players to
think, ‘We are the ones to beat’.
Make no mistake – Liverpool will be
feared wherever they go.
ON CHELSEA
LAMPS CAN AIM
FOR QUARTERS
MY head says they have no chance,
yet they dominated in the Super Cup
against Liverpool – but didn’t have the
killer instinct.
They’ve no chance of winning it. But
to give these kids the experience they
need – the likes of Tammy Abraham
(right, with Frank Lampard)
and Mason Mount – Blues
must get through the
group stages.
Group stages are
just games. You don’t
find out what it is like
until the knockout
stages and then you
realise how incredibly
pressurised it is. That is the experience
they need. The goal for Lamps is to get
to the quarter-final – they can do that.
PEP GUARDIOLA needs to
secure his legacy at Manchester
City by winning the Champions
League.
It is eight years since Guardiola
last lifted the biggest club prize
with Barcelona.
Since then he’s lost at the semi-
finals stage three times with
Bayern Munich, and in the quarter-
finals last season with City.
Pep will feel unfulfilled unless he
can deliver that trophy, and this year
he’ll go all out to win it.
Yesterday’s draw turned his hopes
of reaching the knockout stages into
little more than a formality. But his
failure to win Europe’s biggest club
prize for City is the only question
mark that anyone has of him.
It has been a while for Guardiola
personally. Considering the players
he’s had at his disposal, at the Blues
and Bayern Munich... He’s not even
been to a final since leaving
Barcelona, where he won it twice.
Jurgen Klopp has reached three
Champions League finals in that
time.
Guardiola must be thinking,
‘Something is not right here
regarding how I am approaching
these games’. He will have to adjust.
He is a winner. His City stats are
incredible... 100-plus points, the
goals... yeah we talk about that.
But he needs a Champions League
to cap it all, like Sir Alex Ferguson
and Jose Mourinho.
Until it happens essentially Pep’s
legacy is the same as Manuel
Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini.
They all won Premier Leagues at
Manchester City. None of them
managed to do the big one.
It has got to a point where it has
to be the priority. They have to win
it to be global. From a business point
of view, they have done things to
perfection. The oil-rich owners have
bought City and taken it to the world
and become partners with
Melbourne, New York City, building
their brand around the planet.
But what City need to be on that
next level is to win in Europe in the
numbers of Liverpool and
Manchester United.
This year, City may well see
winning a third consecutive Premier
League crown as their focus, but I
would like their emphasis to be on
winning in Europe.
How do they do it? They went out
ON LIVERPOOL
michael s
(Michael S)
#1