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MAN CITY BOSS GUARDIOLA FACES EXIT AFTER DECISION

Pep Guardiola previously revealed that he leaves a club when he can no longer motivate himself or his team. The Man City boss, under pressure, faces a test of his longevity after a decade of success.

Man City boss Guardiola faces exit after decision
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola

After receiving calls to leave as Manchester City's manager, Pep Guardiola has already provided an insight into what it would take for him to do so. Guardiola is fighting to regain City's domestic supremacy after the team finished behind Liverpool and Arsenal in the previous season, following nearly a decade of continuous success at the Etihad.

Between his successful stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, there have been hints that Guardiola would need a new challenge or a complete vacation from the game. Performance analyst Carles Planchart, who collaborated with Guardiola at Barcelona, Bayern, and City before departing the Etihad at the end of the previous campaign, is one individual who concurs.

If Guardiola wants to continue as manager, Planchart thinks a change would be best for him, telling SPORT: "It is a personal decision he will have to make." A project should, in my opinion, not exceed five or six years.

But not for everyone, not for him. You have to renew after that. He still has a lot of work to do; therefore, as a friend, I would advise him to find a new endeavour.

Guardiola's explanation for leaving Barcelona provides insight into what it would take for him to leave City, since he acknowledged that after winning 14 trophies in four years, including two Champions League titles, he found it difficult to inspire his team and himself.

In a 2014 interview with Audi, he stated, "We had tremendous success. The best time in the club's history was when they won 14 titles in just four years.

But over time, I discovered that it was getting harder and harder to inspire both the team and myself. You realise it is time to leave at that point.

Guardiola has stayed at City for a long time because, according to Planchart, the team has given him a sense of family that he did not have at Barcelona or Bayern.

"This is why he has been at City for so long," he continued, "because they have treated us like family and allowed us to work as if we were at home." That was not how he felt at Bayern or Barca.

He is an avid football lover. He lives his life on the grass and the green. He is a creative genius. His ability to invent football is his greatest strength. The rest of us are copycats; the hard part of life is producing. He is the best at this.

Guardiola seems to still have it in him at City, who bounced back from consecutive losses to Brighton and Tottenham in August to move up to fifth place in the Premier League, three points behind leaders Arsenal. After the international break, City will play their next game at home on October 18 against Everton.

"I’M UPSET" PEP GUARDIOLA’S HILARIOUS RESPONSE TO MANCHESTER CITY’S TRANSFER BUDGET

Pep Guardiola hits back at "big spender" claims, revealing six clubs have higher net spends than City. Get the full injury news.

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Pep Guardiola mocks "big spender" label

Pep Guardiola couldn’t resist poking fun at Manchester City’s big-spender label, joking that he’s annoyed with the club’s bosses for not splashing out even more in the transfer market. City did bring in Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guehi in January, bumping their spending over the last year to £430 million. But here’s the thing—City have also raked in hundreds of millions from player sales, and if you look at net spend over the last five years, six Premier League clubs, including Newcastle (who they’re facing in the Carabao Cup semi-final), have actually outspent them.

Guardiola has pushed back plenty of times against the idea that City just buy their way to success. This time, he couldn’t resist turning the spotlight on the teams that have spent even more. “Honestly, I’m a bit sad and upset because, in terms of net spend, we’re only seventh in the league over the past five years. I want to be first—I don’t get why the club doesn’t spend more. I’m a little grumpy with them,” he laughed.

He kept going: “People say we only win because we spend tonnes of money, but now there are six teams ahead of us. So, they’ve got to win all the Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues, and FA Cups, right? That’s just the reality, not an opinion.

“You can argue about how we played against Spurs—good or bad, that’s up for debate. But these spending numbers? That’s just a fact. Good luck to those six teams ahead of us on net spend. Let’s see what they do. That’s a good quote, isn’t it?”

Right now, City has a 2-0 lead over Newcastle with one leg left in the Carabao Cup semi-final. They’re hungry for another trip to Wembley, but hanging onto leads hasn’t been easy for them this season.

“That’s our focus right now,” Guardiola said. “We’re one game away from making a fifth Carabao Cup final in ten years. Sure, I’d rather start 2-0 up, but we know how tough it is against Newcastle. They’ve got Champions League pride; they always fight.

“We’ve got to be ready. Let’s see how the players bounce back after that hard game at Spurs. We’ll play our football, with our fans behind us, and try to book our place at Wembley in March.”

THE 10-GAME DROUGHT OVER: HOW HAALAND FINALLY FOUND THE NET AGAIN TODAY.

Erling Haaland ends his 10-game goal drought as Manchester City beat Galatasaray 2-0 to secure a spot in the UCL Last 16.

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City through to Last 16 as Haaland ends his scoring drought

Erling Haaland finally broke his scoring drought, and Manchester City squeezed into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 2-0 win over Galatasaray.

Haaland hadn’t scored from open play in ten matches, but he put that to rest with a calm finish. Rayan Cherki gave City their second just before halftime. Pep Guardiola’s team handled the Turkish side at the Etihad, but honestly, it wasn’t a smooth ride.

Other results went City’s way, so this win pushed the defending champions up to eighth in the league phase. That means they dodged the dreaded play-off round—the one that tripped them up last season.

After the final whistle, players, coaches, and fans were left waiting for results from other games. When word came through that Real Madrid had lost at Benfica, everyone in sky blue could finally relax. They’d done enough.

The night wasn’t all good news, though. Jeremy Doku, who lit up the first half and set up both goals, picked up an injury and joined City’s already long list of casualties.

Still, City will be relieved. They won’t have to deal with two extra games next month, and with four competitions on the go, every bit of rest matters.

Galatasaray’s travelling fans showed up in force. They packed city bars, marched through the streets, and set off fireworks on the way to the ground. But by the end, they were silent.

Their team, featuring old City faces Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane, managed to cling onto a spot in the top 24. Not much to celebrate, but it’s something.

City came out flying. They nearly scored inside three minutes when Rayan Ait-Nouri whipped in a cross for Haaland, but the Norwegian headed wide.

He didn’t miss his next chance. Seven minutes later, Doku zipped through the Galatasaray defence and slipped a pass to Haaland, who raced clear. Bardakci couldn’t keep up, and goalkeeper Cakir had no chance as Haaland coolly chipped the ball over him.

The city pushed for more. Cakir had to tip over a rocket from Nico O’Reilly. The second goal arrived in 29 minutes—Doku danced into the box, pulled it back for Cherki, and Cherki swept it home.

That was Doku’s last big moment. After taking some rough hits in recent games, he picked up another knock and limped off.

Galatasaray barely threatened before halftime, apart from a weak effort from Victor Osimhen. But they found more energy after the break, especially after Kurdish demonstrators briefly paused the game.

Osimhen was their main danger man. He headed at Gianluigi Donnarumma, then forced a save with a first-time shot.

The city nearly added a third when Omar Marmoush found himself in a great spot but lost his footing at the crucial moment.

A clash of heads between Tijjani Reijnders and Davinson Sanchez brought a long stoppage. Both players got bandaged up and played on, but the tempo never really picked up again.

The game fizzled out, but City did what they needed to do. They’re through.

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