Guardiola assesses 2024/25 season: "Qualifying for the Champions League is our biggest victory"

Manchester City head coach Josep Guardiola has spoken about the team's recently concluded 2024/25 football season. Although this year has been more difficult and complicated than expected for the Spanish specialist, one of the club's most important tasks - securing a place in the Champions League for next season - was recognized as the greatest success.

According to Guardiola, during this season the team has faced serious difficulties not only in the English Championship, but also in European arenas. In his interview, the Spanish specialist highlighted the loss of stability in the team's playing style, physical condition and general mood.

"The season has been very difficult, we have been struggling with constant processes and various problems. In the Champions League, we made many mistakes and many times failed to use our opportunities. Especially in games against strong opponents, we could not achieve the desired results. But in any case, we have fulfilled the most important task - securing a place in the Champions League. "This is more difficult and more valuable than winning some trophies, especially in England," Guardiola said in his speech.

According to Guardiola, the competition in the Premier League has intensified dramatically in recent years. Currently, 7-9 clubs are fighting for a place in the Champions League in the English Championship at the same time. This makes every season even more difficult for Manchester City and other leading teams.

"Today, the competition in the English Championship has reached such a level that it used to be relatively easy to secure a place in the top 4, but now it takes a lot of effort to get into this group. Qualifying for the Champions League has become a real struggle," said the head coach.

The coach also noted that the team achieved positive dynamics at the end of the season, which he considers a great achievement. Now, the "city" has another important competition ahead - the Club World Cup, and the team aims to achieve high results in this tournament.

“At the end of the season, we as a team have recovered and are in good shape. Now we have a new, very important task - the Club World Cup. We have set ourselves the goal of giving everything in this tournament and achieving the highest results, and we believe in it,” said Guardiola.

It should be recalled that the past season for Manchester City ended without a trophy. The City team took third place in the Premier League, and in the Champions League they lost in a tough match to Real Madrid. The team also unexpectedly lost to Crystal Palace in the League Cup final.

Although this situation has caused mixed reactions among the club's management and fans, Guardiola is confident that they will learn from these mistakes next season and return to the field stronger.

“We will analyze our failures this season, learn from them and come out on the field even stronger next season. "We are looking to get back to the top of the table in the race for trophies," concluded Pep Guardiola.