Pep Guardiola has had his say on Manchester City and Arsenal’s potential path to the Champions League final after the draw.
The two Premier League title rivals have been drawn on opposite sides of the bracket, which means they will not face each other in any round before the final.
Since the draw, many people have been complaining that Arsenal’s path to the Champions League final is very easy, while teams on the opposite side, like Manchester City, have it much harder.
Guardiola was asked about this, and he didn’t like the question at all.
🔮 Which stage of the Champions League will Arsenal reach?
Pep Guardiola slams ‘disrespectful’ narrative after Arsenal and Manchester City’s Champions League draws
There’s no point denying it – Arsenal have got the best possible draw in the Champions League.
The Gunners face Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16, and if they get past that, their opponents in the quarter-final will be Sporting CP or Bodo/Glimt.
Should they win in that round too, their semi-final will be against one of Newcastle United, Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur or Atletico Madrid. That is why Arsenal have been named the favourites to win the Champions League.
Manchester City, on the other hand, have Real Madrid next. If they reach the quarter-finals, they will likely face Bayern Munich, and their potential opponents in the semis will be one of PSG, Chelsea, Galatasaray and Liverpool.
Seeing that, a journalist told Pep Guardiola that his side seemed to be in the much harder half of the draw compared to Arsenal.
The City boss slammed that narrative and claimed that no game in the Champions League is easy, even for Arsenal, despite their favourable draw.
He replied, as relayed on HaytersTV: “It would be so disrespectful (to say that). For example, Newcastle and Barcelona are top teams. PSG, Atletico Madrid, or Spurs… I saw Atalanta against Dortmund the other night. And the way they played, the rhythm was quite similar to Gasperini’s before.
“I’m not a fan of that (saying City have it hard and Arsenal have it easy).
“Now everybody says Bodo/Glimt are top. Bodo/Glimt now are, oh my god, what a team. Before we played them, you already saw, and all the fans… 20 games of Bodo/Glimt before to analyse that team.
“Champions League is so difficult with any team. I’m not saying Madrid are not difficult. Everybody knows it. But the rest of the teams that you play… I don’t know, give me any team. All of them are tricky. If you want to go through this competition right now, you have to beat the best teams, otherwise you don’t deserve it.”
How many trophies will Arsenal win in the 2025/26 season?
Can Arsenal win the quadruple?
Arsenal and Manchester City could face each other in all four competitions
Arsenal and Manchester City still have a game to play in the Premier League, and they will face each other in the Carabao Cup final in March as well.
Those will be two huge fixtures, but there could be two more.
The Champions League draw shows that Mikel Arteta and Guardiola’s men could face each other in the final if they manage to get to that stage.
Arsenal and City could be drawn against each other in the FA Cup as well, potentially in the final of that competition.
To sum up, there is a serious chance that Arsenal and Manchester City could be involved in the finals of the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Champions League, as well as go toe-to-toe in the Premier League title race.
If that happens and Arsenal win the quadruple, it could go down as the greatest achievement in football history. However, that’s easier said than done.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
