![\"Manchester](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/128973512_pep-696x392.jpg\" "\\"Manchester")
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his reign will \u201cabsolutely\u201d be judged on whether he leads the club to a first Champions League title, although he \u201cdoesn\u2019t agree\u201d with it.<\/p>\n
City have won nine major trophies since Guardiola took charge in 2016.<\/p>\n
But he was asked whether his spell will be defined by success in Europe\u2019s premier cup competition.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean I agree with it but, absolutely, I\u2019ll be judged on that,\u201d said the 52-year-old Spaniard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore my first game in the Champions League [with City], people said I was here to win it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said \u2018what?\u2019 I don\u2019t know, but I accept it. As much as I go through, it\u2019s not going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n
City will secure a place in this season\u2019s quarter-finals if they win their last-16 second leg at home to RB Leipzig on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The closest they have come to Champions League glory was when they reached the 2021 final, where they\u00a0lost 1-0 to Chelsea.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0late fightback by Real Madrid\u00a0prevented City returning to the final last season, but in Guardiola\u2019s first four seasons at Etihad Stadium, they failed to progress past the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
City were upset by French sides Monaco and Lyon, while suffering agonising exits against Premier League rivals Liverpool and Tottenham, with the latter coming after VAR played a big role in the outcome of a\u00a0thrilling second leg at the Etihad.<\/p>\n
In November, Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice as Barcelona coach,\u00a0signed a two-year contract extension to 2025\u00a0and said he wanted \u201cto stay and continue fighting for trophies\u201d.<\/p>\n
READ ALSO<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve not won it but we\u2019ve done really well in the Champions League,\u201d said City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne.<\/p>\n \u201cI know people base everything on only winning but I feel there\u2019s been a lot of circumstances in these kind of games \u2013 the Madrid game, the Tottenham game where we deserved to go through but didn\u2019t. These are moments in games where these things happen.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously I want to win it but I know that, as long as we don\u2019t, I\u2019ll come here and get the same questions and I\u2019m fine because people judge you on that.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just try to win these games and be the best people and team we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n Guardiola tells De Bruyne to focus on \u2018simple things\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n De Bruyne has registered 17 assists in 34 appearances this season, three more than the two-time Premier League player of the season managed in 45 games last term.<\/p>\n But Guardiola has started the Belgium midfielder on the bench in four of City\u2019s past nine top-flight games and has told the 31-year-old to focus on the \u201csimple things\u201d to get back to his best.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a difficult season for all of us, me included, [because of] the World Cup and many things,\u201d said Guardiola.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to discover Kevin. Kevin has an ability to do it. What I\u2019d like \u2013 I spoke many times to him \u2013 is [for him] to go to the easy principles and do it well.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has an incredible ability to make an assist, to score goals and see passes like no-one else, but I always have belief they will increase and will get better when [players do] the simple things\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the simple things are done perfectly and we are in the right moment, the actions to create incredible passes that he \u2013 only he \u2013 can find, it will be easier, it will be better.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n