Pep Guardiola has warned that Manchester City are close to returning to the levels that have seen the reigning Premier League champions dominate English football for the past decade.
City were in inspired form against Ipswich Town on Sunday and won convincingly 6-0 at Portman Road. Phil Foden (2), Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee were on target at East Anglia, catapulting the club into the top four after starting the day in eighth.
Although there are still some elements of City’s game that need fine-tuning, Guardiola said after the match that his side were doing a lot of things right as they try to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League.
“We’re really happy, we’re back doing things that defined this team over the last 10 years,” Guardiola said. Aerial sports after the match. “Really happy for the three points and to qualify for the Champions League next season, it will be so difficult.
“Much better. Maybe not our best but closer with the consistency we have in our game. Most of them didn’t happen in the previous games that we won.
“With the way we played without the ball, you can’t play in tight spaces. Everyone who had the ball was smart, quicker, faster. Everyone is linked. You can’t be quick, wise and good if you’re not connected defensively.”
Guardiola admitted his mind had turned to the midweek Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain before the game had even ended, with City needing two positive results to ensure they qualify for the play-offs of the revamped competition this season.
“After four or five zeros, I had my eyes fixed on Paris,” he confirmed. “We have a long way to go. I want to say thank you very much to our fans.
“Again, it’s not easy to come here, it’s a long journey and I’m really happy to play this way for them. They can go home for a beer on the train and enjoy our time together. Thank you so much.
“Every time we go on these long trips, they join us. We will return late and prepare for a final. We have two finals, winning two we qualify, winning one there is a big possibility. We have to score points because we created problems ourselves, especially with Feyenoord.
“Even the match we lost in Lisbon. But at that time we had a lot of problems. We can’t compete the way we want to for many reasons. I hope we can continue in Paris for the next match.
