Pep Guardiola has dampened expectations that Manchester City will win the Champions League, claiming his team is “not ready” and “far away”.
City moved into fourth place in the 36-team standings by claiming a come-from-behind victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Rodrygo put Madrid ahead at the Santiago Bernabeu, but goals from Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland completed the comeback before half-time.
City kept Madrid at bay after the break, with Los Blancos failing to register another shot on target, but Guardiola does not believe this means his team should be considered among the favorites to win the tournament.
He told TNT Sports: “We are not ready. We are gone. We will be better in February.”
“We have been here before and played better and lost. The players have made a great effort, but we still have a lot to improve.”
“Could be better. So difficult here. Four or five players played here for the first time. If we win here, we have to be mainly satisfied in terms of points. We have thirteen and it is in our hands to finish in the top eight. That is the goal.”
According to Opta’s supercomputer, City has a 10.3% chance of winning the second European crown.
Since the start of last season, Real Madrid have now lost five of their UEFA Champions League fixtures.
That’s as much as they lost in the group stages of the competition from 2019/20 to 2023/24 combined. pic.twitter.com/gDArjQQBMq
— Opta analyst (@OptaAnalyst) December 10, 2025
Haaland converted the winner from the penalty spot after being fouled by Antonio Rudiger. The 25-year-old has now scored 55 Champions League goals, having netted 51 times in the 50 games he has started in the competition.
“His numbers speak for themselves,” Guardiola said of Haaland.
“We need to find him more, he needs to be involved in the game. The last few games he hasn’t been in the game so we have to find a way to find him more.”
This was City’s first away win in the Champions League after trailing 1-0 since April 2021, when they beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-1.
“It’s difficult to get here, it’s a difficult place,” Haaland told TNT Sports. “The match was a bit chaotic, we didn’t really have control over it.
“This is a place where you want to play, these are matches you want to play. With this new format in the Champions League you can play more matches, and that’s fun. I like it.”
Although Haaland proved decisive, Madrid’s talisman Kylian Mbappe was not deemed fit enough to come off the bench as he sustains a muscle injury.
Asked if it was a boost not to face Mbappe, Haaland said: “We know their injuries, we have some, but they have many.
“You don’t want someone to get injured, but we expected him to play. I expected to face Kylian today. But when such a player drops out, you are not happy because you want to play the best, but it does give you a psychological boost.”
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