Pep Guardiola said that Manchester United and Bayern Munich could testify to how dangerous Copenhagen can be.
Manchester City put one foot in the quarter-final of the Champions League as goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and Phil Foden earned them a 3-1 win in the Danish capital. The Blues will be heavy favourites to progress with the second leg at the Etihad next month.
Pep Guardiola was delighted with the performance of his players and the way they silenced a noisy crowd at Parken. However, he had strong words for anyone tempted to declare the tie over as he made reference to Copenhagen’s impressive performance in the group stages that saw them go toe-to-toe with European giants.
“I know how difficult it is. People believe it is easy,” he said. “Ask United and Bayern. It’s a really tough opponent.
“We made perfect concepts today. My job is to warn the players, the attributes they have. We behaved with character and personality, patience. Everyone was at a top level. It’s not decisive, a good result. Hopefully we can make the quarters.
“Copenhagen are so compact. These type of games you expect the transitions where you suffer. Slow it down in this incredible stadium with the crowd behind. Make 1,000 goals, don’t allow them to score a goal.
“The stadium goes down. We have to find the spaces in the next leg. I saw the United games and how difficult it was for them. I knew it, the players knew it. They follow us and play for that way.”