Guardiola calls season 'bad' even with Champions League within reach | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
July 19, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2025
Guardiola calls season 'bad' even with Champions League within reach

Sports

Reuters
23 April, 2025, 04:15 pm
Last modified: 23 April, 2025, 04:21 pm

Related News

  • Leonardo double earns Al-Hilal shock Club World Cup win over Manchester City
  • Guardiola worried that lack of rest after Club World Cup could 'destroy' Man City
  • Haaland reaches 300 career goals faster than Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe
  • Man City down Al-Ain 6-0 to reach Club World Cup knockout stage with Juve
  • Winning Club World Cup would not make up for City's disappointing season, says Guardiola

Guardiola calls season 'bad' even with Champions League within reach

City took a big step towards securing European qualification with their 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Tuesday thanks to Matheus Nunes's 94th-minute strike.

Reuters
23 April, 2025, 04:15 pm
Last modified: 23 April, 2025, 04:21 pm
Guardiola calls season 'bad' even with Champions League within reach

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola scoffed at suggestions that his team could look back on this season as a special one if they clinch a Champions League berth.

City took a big step towards securing European qualification with their 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Tuesday thanks to Matheus Nunes's 94th-minute strike.

Guardiola's men climbed two spots to third in the league table, still 18 points behind leaders Liverpool and so will finish well short of their early-season goal of capturing an historic fifth consecutive league title.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"This season has been bad," Guardiola said. "It doesn't matter whether we reach the (FA Cup) final, or qualification for the Champions League. The reality is that what determines, what makes you feel the season is good is the Premier League, not the Champions League, not FA Cups. It's that consistency in the Premier League.

"But it happens, sometimes you have bad seasons. The level of the teams (in the Premier League) is outstanding."

Pundit Roy Keane thought Guardiola's summary of the season was unfairly negative.

"I think he's been really harsh on his team there," the former Manchester United midfielder said on the Sky Sports broadcast. "Had a tough start, obviously had a huge setback with Rodri (suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament), and they've not been at their very best.

"But that was always going to happen. But I still think if they win the FA Cup and get in the Champions League, it's not bad going. But it's just because they set the standards so high over the last few years that any sort of drop-off kind of does look bad."

City travel to Nottingham Forest for their FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, while Crystal Palace host Aston Villa in the other semi on Saturday.

City and Villa looked poised for a draw at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday after Marcus Rashford's penalty cancelled out Bernardo Silva's goal in the first half.

Two weeks after he announced he would leave City at the season's end, skipper Kevin De Bruyne had a solid night, creating six chances with no other player creating more than two.

According to Opta, it was the 60th time that the Belgian created five or more chances in a single league game, the most any player had done so from the 2003-04 season onwards.

De Bruyne, who said on Sunday that he was surprised not to be offered a new contract by the club, did not bother to walk around to City's dugout when he was substituted for Manuel Akanji late in Tuesday's game, instead perching on the advertising board and offering instructions to his teammates.

Top News

Pep Guardiola / manchester city

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Logo of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. Photo: Collected
    Jamaat set for its first-ever Suhrawardy Udyan rally today
  • BNP Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed. Photo: Collected
    One party trying to fish in troubled waters through misleading politics: Salahuddin
  • The formal announcement came during a press conference held today (18 July) at a city hotel in Dhaka. Photo: Jahir Rayhan/TBS
    Starlink top management officially inaugurates service in Bangladesh through kit deliveries

MOST VIEWED

  • Obayed Ullah Al Masud. Sketch: TBS
    Islami Bank chairman resigns
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus and SpaceX Vice President Lauren Dreyer after a meeting at state guest house Jamuna on 18 July 2025. Photo: Focus Bangla
    SpaceX VP Lauren Dreyer praises Bangladesh's efficiency in facilitating Starlink launch
  • GP profit drops 31% in H1
    GP profit drops 31% in H1
  • Around 99% of the cotton used in Bangladesh’s export and domestic garment production is imported. Photo: Collected
    NBR withdraws advance tax on imports of cotton, man-made fibres
  • Governments often rely on foreign loans. Russia’s loans covered 90% of the Rooppur Nuclear Power plant project's cost. Photo: Collected
    Loan tenure for Rooppur plant extended 
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Railway allocates special trains for Jamaat's national rally in Dhaka

Related News

  • Leonardo double earns Al-Hilal shock Club World Cup win over Manchester City
  • Guardiola worried that lack of rest after Club World Cup could 'destroy' Man City
  • Haaland reaches 300 career goals faster than Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe
  • Man City down Al-Ain 6-0 to reach Club World Cup knockout stage with Juve
  • Winning Club World Cup would not make up for City's disappointing season, says Guardiola

Features

Jatrabari in the capital looks like a warzone as police, alongside Chhatra League men, swoop on quota reform protesters. Photo: Mehedi Hasan

19 July 2024: At least 148 killed as government attempts to quash protests violently

5h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

Curfews, block raids, and internet blackouts: Hasina’s last ditch efforts to cling to power

11h | Panorama
The Mymensingh district administration confirmed that Zamindar Shashikant Acharya Chowdhury built the house near Shashi Lodge for his staff. Photo: Collected

The Mymensingh house might not belong to Satyajit Ray's family, but there’s little to celebrate

11h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

20 years of war, 7.5m tonnes of bombs, 1.3m dead: How the US razed Vietnam to the ground

1d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Why is the Japanese 'extremely exposed' to foreigners?

Why is the Japanese 'extremely exposed' to foreigners?

8h | Others
NCP’s arrival turns Munshiganj vibrant with festivity

NCP’s arrival turns Munshiganj vibrant with festivity

12h | TBS Today
How did Pakistan shoot down India’s fighter jets?

How did Pakistan shoot down India’s fighter jets?

12h | TBS World
Bangladesh's Lower and Middle Classes Under Pressure from High Prices

Bangladesh's Lower and Middle Classes Under Pressure from High Prices

13h | TBS Stories
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net