Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola who signed a contract extension keeping him at the club till 2025 has admitted that winning the Champions League is one of the reasons he has signed with the club as this will ‘complete’ his reign.

Pep Guardiola became manager of Manchester City in 2016, taking over from Manuel Pellegrini who got the team to the semi-final where they lost narrowly to Real Madrid.

Since his managerial takeover, the Cityzens have suffered disappointing UCL exits including Monaco in the 2017 Round of 16, am embarrassing one against Liverpool in 2018 quarter finals, another quarter final to Tottenham Hotspur in 2019, Lyon in 2020 quarter final. In recent years, they’ve gotten much closer to the title, losing in the final to Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea in 2021 and Carlo Ancelloti’s Real Madrid in the semi-final of 2022.

However, Pep Guardiola has enjoyed his time in the domestic leagues, winning four of the last five Premier League titles, four Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

“It is not the only one but I admit it is the trophy we want and my period here will not be complete if we do not win it,” he said. “But that is not the only reason [I signed]. I will do everything in the time we have together to win it but I said the same before [signing]. It is the trophy we do not have and we will try to do it. I have the feeling they [City] will get it sooner or later. We have tried in the past, even in the first season even though we went out in the last 16. So we will try with all our strength.”

Manchester City have bolstered their attack with hot and firing Erling Haaland who will be well fed by Kevin De Bruyne and the rest of the City team in their quest to win the first ever Champions League in the club’s history.

Pep will also aim to end his over one decade of wait for a Champions League title, last winning it in the 2010/11 season with FC Barcelona.

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