“I’ll tell you” – Pep Guardiola reveals what Manchester City would make of Europa League football for 2025/26 term | OneFootball

Manchester City would hold a feeling of ‘disappointment’ if they only managed to secure UEFA Europa League football next season, Pep Guardiola has admitted.

The reigning English champions are facing a stiff race to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League by finishing in the top four of the Premier League this term.

A 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest and 2-2 draw with Brighton and Hove Albion in the last eight days have seen Manchester City slip to fifth place in the table – six points adrift of Forest in third with nine league games to go.

City have failed miserably in their bid to win a sensational fifth straight Premier League title this season and after crashing out of the UEFA Champions League and Carabao Cup, the FA Cup remains their only chance at silverware ahead of major overhaul in the first-team ranks come the summer.

As things stand, just eight points separate Chelsea in fourth place in the table and Brentford in 11th place – a reflection of just how tight the race for European football is as clubs in the top half of the league look to finish the season on a high.

Manchester City have a favourable run of fixtures between now and the end of the season but it remains to be seen if the 2023 treble winners can put a run together and get past the Champions League qualification finish line.

Speaking during a recent press conference, Pep Guardiola was asked specifically whether – after all of the success achieved – his big name players would be ‘humble’ enough to challenge for the Europa League in the same way they would the Champions League.

“I will answer you when we will be potentially in the Europa League,” Guardiola insisted. “We are going to play what we deserve to achieve in the last 10 games of this season.

“In the Champions League, there are many factors, but in the Premier League, if you don’t qualify for the top four or six or seven, eight, it’s because it is what it is.

“We’ll be disappointed yes, but I’ll tell you; let’s see what happens in the next 10 games and after – gently, like always, I’ve been with you especially – I will answer you.”

City next face Bournemouth in two weeks’ time as they look to book their berth in the FA Cup semi-final by seeing off the Cherries and gain momentum from the cup to fuel their Premier League run-in.