Pep Guardiola: Manchester City ‘deserve’ to be in next season’s Champions League
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City deserve their place in next season’s Champions League ahead of Monday’s decision on their appeal against a two-year European ban.
Raheem Sterling’s superb hat-trick and goals from Gabriel Jesus and Bernardo Silva earned City a 5-0 success against Brighton at the Amex Stadium, which assures them of finishing runners-up to Premier League champions Liverpool and secures them qualification to the Champions League next season.
However, the club will on Monday discover the outcome of their appeal against a two-year ban from European club competitions following alleged breaches of club licensing and financial fair play regulations.
Guardiola, speaking to Sky Sports, says his players deserve to be in next season’s compeition after earning their place on the pitch.
„Today we achieved one incredible challenge, which is qualification for the Champions League mathematically,“ he said.
„That is the challenge that is the minimum requirement for this club. And these players have done it for the last six or seven years.
„We deserve to be there because we won it on the pitch. Hopefully on Monday UEFA can allow us to play like this team and these players deserve to.“
Guardiola optimistic over decision
Manchester City will find out on Monday at 9.30am whether their appeal against their two-year European ban is successful.
City have always vigorously denied any wrongdoing after they were sanctioned by UEFA’s club financial control body (CFCB) for breaches of club licensing and financial fair play regulations, and their appeal against the punishment was heard over three days by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, City boss Guardiola revealed he is extremely optimistic about receiving positive news on Monday.
„It’s the decision, so it’s so important, of course it is,“ the Spaniard said of the appeal verdict.
„What we have done is win our qualification on the pitch. Nobody can doubt about this.
„In general the level we played today was quite similar all the season and now we are going to wait until Monday when the decision of UEFA will be taken.“
Asked if he was hopeful about the appeal being successful, Guardiola replied: „A lot.“
‘We are ready for season finale’
While hopes of lifting the Premier League title were ended long ago, City still hope to add Champions League and FA Cup trophies to the Carabao Cup they won in February.
And Guardiola says his team are now ready for the final stages of the season following their emphatic win over Brighton.
„I was pleased with everything tonight – the result and the levels we reached,“ he added.
„We are now at a good level and are ready to play the last games of the Premier League and in the Champions League.
„We’ve forgotten the Southampton result (1-0 defeat last Sunday) as we played incredibly well there.
Football sometimes is strange. We just didn’t score there. We’re a team who create a lot of chances and today we converted them.“
Sterling: Goals don’t mean anything, trophies do
Finally, Raheem Sterling believes his goals will only mean something if they help Manchester City to more silverware.
The England forward took his tally to 17 Premier League goals for the campaign as he netted a hat-trick in City’s 5-0 thrashing of Brighton on Saturday.
City are still hoping to end the season with a treble and Sterling – whose goals on Saturday saw him pass the 30-mark in all competitions for club and country – hopes to play his part.
„The most important thing to me is the value of these goals, that they add to the team,“ he told Sky Sports.
„At the end of the day, we’re trying to win the FA Cup final and win the Champions League as well, otherwise these goals don’t really mean anything.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
