Pep Guardiola swore in a press conference after being asked when Manchester City will win the Champions League for the first time.
The Premier League champions have never lifted the European Cup, despite being one of the richest clubs in the world and enjoying domestic domination. They've won four of the last five Premier League titles, as well as seven other trophies under Guardiola.
The closest City have come to winning the Champions League was in 2021, when they lost 1-0 to Chelsea in the final. They were on the verge of reaching the final again last term but conceded two late goals to semi-final rivals Real Madrid in a stunning collapse.
Speaking to the press on Monday, Guardiola was questioned whether City would finally get over the European line this season. Their campaign starts against Sevilla - who have picked up just one point from four La Liga games this term - in Spain on Tuesday night.
"I get asked every year," said Guardiola when asked, rolling his eyes in response. "Sport always gives you another opportunity. They say we are favourites. But for me, Real Madrid have to be favourites every year. It depends on our performance.
"If it's not good then we will take punishments from the fans. I would love to have the story in Europe like Sevilla has. Man City is far away from what they have done in Europe. We are going to try again. Win it or not win it? F***, I don’t know."
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Guardiola was referring to the six Europa Leagues Sevilla have won, which is a competition record. Three of these triumphs came in consecutive years between 2014 and 2016. Sevilla have never won the Champions League, twice reaching the quarter-finals.
Guardiola was also asked if Erling Haaland is the key ingredient to City's European dreams. The Norwegian, who has scored 10 goals in six Premier League games since he signed for City in the summer, has found the net 23 times in 19 Champions League outings.
"If we rely on his shoulders we are not going to win," added Guardiola. "I understand completely everyone talks about Erling but I have more new players and I want them to settle.
"We won’t win just because of Erling, but he has a special quality and maybe he can solve the problems we have - definitely. But we have to play good as a team as well. If we don’t, we won’t win."
Speaking in May, City talisman Kevin De Bruyne admitted they need to win the Champions League to change the external perception of the club. "As a player you want to win trophies and we want to win this one," he said. "The fact we’ve been fighting for numerous years and getting to the latter stages means we’ve been doing really well.
"It’s a cup competition and the quality is very high so it’s very difficult to win it but in the end if you look back at the way we performed and I have performed over seven years we have done really well. We have not won it but winning it would change that little narrative."
