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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Anil Kandola

Pep Guardiola warned not to under-estimate 'miracle' league champions gunning for Man City

Pep Guardiola has been a dominant force throughout his coaching career and his time at Manchester City has been no different.

Eight major trophies since his arrival in 2016 speaks for itself. But the one prize to have eluded him and City is the Champions League.

This season the Blues are expected yet again to go deep into the competition, with Sporting Lisbon up next month in the last 16.

Although initially, the tie seems a straightforward task, the Portuguese champions could provide a tricky test.

City is Ours writer Alex Brotherton caught up with Portuguese football expert and Sporting fan Tom Kundert on Facebook Live to get the lowdown.

TK: "Sporting have been very much the third-best club in Portugal over the last 20 years, and quite a long way behind Benfica and Porto. But since the new coach has come in, Ruben Amorim, he’s really brought about something of a miracle at that club.

"Tthey won the League for the first time in 19 years last season and they're going well again this season in all competitions and have got through to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the second time in their history. He's done absolutely brilliantly.

"I think even Sporting fans don't give the team much chance of pulling off a shock but I think that could be their biggest trump card. Maybe just maybe, City understandably could be a little bit overconfident. Sporting are a very tight team and one thing that could serve them well in this game is they have a very set system.

"In Portugal, even opposition teams when they play Sporting... in pre-match press conferences coaches always say everyone knows how Sporting play. The problem is trying to stop them because they’ve got this system really down to a tee, which is a 3-4-3.

"They've got very attacking wing-backs and then they've got a very competitive midfield as well, quite a tough midfield.

"Joao Palhinha is a very important player. And then up front they've got a real kind of bright hope for Portuguese football - Pedro Goncalves. And alongside him, you have Pablo Sarabia who is on loan from PSG and is a full Spain International.

"So they've got some good players, some good individual players, but what I think the biggest strength for Sporting is that they're just a real team, no real superstars and they're really well oiled in that system.

"They play exactly the same, it doesn't matter if they're playing the strongest team in Portugal, or the weakest team in Portugal they always play exactly that same system - 3-4-3. Manchester City you know, obviously they’ll make all the right noises before and say they have to take it seriously and as if it was any other team at this stage of the competition.

"I suppose subconsciously, it's only natural that they probably think it's not going to be the same as playing against Chelsea or Liverpool or even a Real Madrid or one of the big sides in Europe. So if they do take the foot off the accelerator I think they could be surprised a bit."

Do you think Sporting will be a tricky tie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below

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