Guardiola: I’m Confident We’ll Beat Brugge

Manchester City will host Brugge at the Etihad Stadium in their final UEFA Champions League group game on Wednesday.

As the winners of the tournament in 2023, City can’t afford a loss or a draw at home because winning is their only way to make the playoffs and continue to fight for a place in the round of 16.

Having won only two of their past seven games in the group, City sit 25th in the 36-team table with eight points. In the new Champions League format, the top-eight teams from the group phase will automatically qualify for the round of 16 while, ninth to 24th compete for the other eight spots in the playoffs.

City’s opponents Brugge are five places above them with 11 points. They have to win on the road to guarantee themselves a place in the last 16, but it won’t be easy since the Belgian club has never defeated City in the Champions League. The last time they came to the Etihad Stadium in 2021, the hosts walked over them 4-1.

The good news for City is that they seem to have snapped out of their poor form from the end of last year. From October to December 2024, the club lost 13 games in all competitions. However, they remained undefeated in the past seven Premier League games, making it back to the top-four in the league in impressive fasion. Furthermore, City have not lost any of their 34 home games at the Champions League since 2018.

“Well, the situation that we have, we have no other option – to win the game,” City’s manager Pep Guardiola said. “And if not, we will not continue in this competition. We want to go through to have another chance to play another two games to qualify for the next stage. It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity, a challenge, and we will face it.”