Pep Guardiola said after Manchester City pipped Real Madrid to an automatic place in the Champions League round of 16 that he will “of course” be sending his thanks to former adversary José Mourinho.
It was Mourinho’s Benfica shocking Real Madrid with a 4–2 win in Lisbon, securing their own place in the knockout playoffs in the process, that bumped Los Blancos down to ninth and ensured City’s 2–0 victory against Galatasaray was enough to sneak into the top eight—Guardiola admitted his players were “all watching it in the dressing room.”
