Pep Guardiola has said he has “everything” he needs at Manchester City and believes there’s “no better place” for him to work.
The former Barcelona coach is about to embark on his fourth campaign in charge of City, where he has a contract until June 2021.
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“I have everything and I can’t find a better place than this one,” Guardiola said of his club to Gol TV. “The club doesn’t judge me on whether I win or lose.
“I have a young team and I feel loved. It’s one of the best clubs of the last decade. The fans tell me that even if things go badly, they will back me to the death.”
City dominated the domestic competition in the 2018-19 campaign, winning the Community Shield, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Premier League but yet again fell short in the Champions League. Guardiola’s side were eliminated in the quarterfinals after losing to Tottenham on away goals.
Guardiola, who steered Barcelona to that title in 2009 and 2011, said: “I would give everything to win a Champions League [with City] but there are seven very difficult games where you depend on minor factors.
“Each time you get into the Champions League you say to yourself: ‘How beautiful it will be,’ and when you’re eliminated you say: ‘What rotten luck not to be able to continue to enjoy it.’
“Of course I’m jealous of Liverpool and Tottenham [reaching the Champions League final] and I would have loved to have been there, but they deserved it.”
Guardiola said that since beginning his coaching career, his priority has always been the domestic league.
“Winning is very addictive and gives you energy,” the Spaniard told Diario Ara. “This gives you the league.
“That’s why when they tell me: ‘But he has not won the Champions League,’ I answer that I would like to clarify that I would like the Champions League, but the league is what makes the players follow you, because every three days you win.
“Instead, when you lose, players stop believing in you. The league puts you in place. That is why I’ve had it, since managing the [Barcelona] B team, as the absolute priority.
“I cannot leave everything at random from a less controllable competition such as the Champions League or the cups, as they are in England.”
Guardiola, 48, won a total of 21 titles during his coaching spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
At Barca he achieved his biggest successes in his four seasons at the helm, winning La Liga three times, the Champions League twice and two FIFA Club World Cups.