Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol has admitted that the Premier League champions failed to give enough attention to their UEFA Champions League campaign earlier in the season.
City head into their final group-stage fixture against Club Brugge in danger of missing out on the knockout phase after a disappointing run in Europe.
Despite improving their form domestically, Pep Guardiola’s side remain outside the play-off places and must secure victory against the Belgian club to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
Gvardiol acknowledged that City should not have found themselves in such a difficult position and admitted that the team’s focus had been elsewhere. Speaking on TNT Sports, he said:
We need to win. The good thing is that we play at home. At the moment it is a final game for us in the Champions League and I think we’re going to give everything on the pitch to achieve that and qualify for the knockout stage.
The thing is that we didn’t think earlier about getting more points in the Champions League, we were more focused on the Premier League and the cups, so now we are in the current situation.
Manchester City currently sit 25th in the Champions League standings and must beat Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium to advance to the next stage.
