Pep Guardiola backed to complete Man City ‘mission’ despite Champions League ban

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola won't feel complete at the club until he's won the biggest prize in club football.

That's according to Manchester United hero and Betfair ambassador Dimitar Berbatov.

The Champions League is the one competition to elude City in recent seasons, despite a wealth of new signings and Guardiola's arrival.

The Spaniard has won the competition twice, both times with Barcelona , but hasn't been able to bring European glory to Bayern Munich or the Etihad Stadium.

City's recent Champions League ban has brought into question Guardiola's future in England.

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But Berbatov reckons the former Barcelona manager won't be satisfied until he's brought the trophy to Manchester.

"Guardiola has achieved an enormous amount with City, two Premier League titles, including a 100 point season, as well as cup honours," the Bulgarian striker told Betfair.

"The City board probably brought Guardiola in to win the Champions League but, if he fails to do that again this season, I don’t think his time there has been a failure.

"City have not been as good this season as they were for the past two campaigns and their squad needs to be refreshed in the summer.

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"But they’re still the favourites to win the Champions League this season and I think that’s deserved.

"Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, you can’t call Guardiola a failure, especially as he’s already won the Champions League twice.

"How Guardiola judges himself, though, is a different matter.

"Deep down, he will know his City mission isn’t 100% complete if they fail to win Europe’s biggest prize."

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City travel to the Bernabeu this evening to take on Real Madrid in the first-leg of their last-16 tie.

Guardiola has a reasonably good record when it comes to facing the Spanish giants, losing just four of his 17 games against them in all competitions.

But the last time the 49-year-old faced Madrid, as manager of Bayern, a 5-0 aggregate loss occurred for the German side.

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