Pep Guardiola believes his Manchester City side face a tough challenge to replicate their midweek heroics as they face West Ham this weekend.
City produced a superb performance to claim a memorable victory over Paris St Germain and secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday.
Guardiola now wants to maintain the momentum as the Premier League champions host the Hammers on Sunday but he expects a difficult afternoon against David Moyes’ fourth-placed side.
City produced an impressive performance to beat PSG in midweek (Tim Goode/PA)
The City manager said: “We know which team we are going to face. They are doing incredibly well this season and last season, at home, it was the game we deserved not to win. We won for two actions but they were better than us.
“Last season they qualified for the Europa league. Now look what they’ve done in the Europa League and the Premier League.
“We know how difficult it will be but, at the same time, it’s a new challenge and a new opportunity to show ourselves and be consistent in our performance.
West Ham have made a strong start to the season (Zac Goodwin/PA)
“We are incredibly happy and delighted to be in the last 16 of the Champions League. In this part of the season it is about not being far from the top of the Premier League, and especially going through in the group stage.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
“I want the team to be consistent, congratulate ourselves for what we have done in this group stage – playing incredibly well in all games – and now continue our rhythm.”
It was this time last year that City began to hit form after an indifferent start to the campaign. A 5-0 thrashing of Burnley on November 28 launched a 19-game unbeaten run in the Premier League that all but secured the title.
The impressive nature of Wednesday’s victory, beating a star-studded PSG side that included the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, suggested City are well capable of producing similar this term.
Guardiola however is not making any such predictions.
He said: “As a manager I never count on what we have done three days ago happening tomorrow. I face the teams in a completely different way.
“It’s a new opponent and I would never like to predict we’re going to win an incredible run of games. It’s impossible, I cannot assure you.
“I don’t know what will happen, not even on Sunday at 2pm against West Ham.”
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
