Man City now belong among European heavyweights: Guardiola

MANCHESTER, MAR 7: Pep Guardiola said Manchester City have earned their place among the perennial contenders for Champions League glory after reaching the quarter-finals for a seventh consecutive season on Wednesday.

Guardiola could even afford the luxury of resting a host of star names in a 3-1 victory over FC Copenhagen at the Etihad that completed a 6-2 aggregate rout.

Goals from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez killed the tie as a contest inside 10 minutes before Erling Haaland drilled in his 29th goal of the season.
Mohamed Elyounoussi briefly reduced the Danish champions deficit to 2-1 on the night, but Copenhagen were outclassed over two legs as the European champions remain on course for another treble.

City conquered Europe for the first time in the clubs history last season, but Guardiola acknowledged his side are now seen as favourites for the competition ahead of the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The English champions have not lost a Champions League game at the Etihad since 2018 and became the first side in the competitions history to score three or more goals in nine consecutive home games.

"The important thing is being there (in the quarter-finals) seven years in a row, its quite impressive," said Guardiola.

"We are well-respected from our opponents. The numbers are there - our consistency. "I remember when I arrived, we didn believe, the club didn believe we could do it because we didn have the hierarchy in Europe like teams in Spain or Germany. It was a question of time, a process.

Guardiola showed he had one eye on Sundays top-of-the-table Premier League clash at Liverpool as he made seven changes from the side that beat Manchester United at the weekend.

Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva were among those to spend the 90 minutes on the bench to rest up ahead of the trip to Anfield.

But City were still a class apart and aided on their way into the last eight by some comical Copenhagen defending.

Akanji made a sweet connection with Alvarezs outswinging corner but was given far too much room in the centre of the box to find the top corner.

Worse was to come for the visitors as former Liverpool goalkeeper Kamil Grabara let a simple shot from Alvarez slip through his grasp.

The 2,500 strong visiting support from Copenhagen refused to be downhearted as they kept a flat atmosphere at the Etihad going, and they had something to cheer on the half-hour mark.    —AFP