Pep Guardiola was anything but a happy man after how Manchester City performed in one of their Champions League games last season.
Perhaps it was this very unrelenting attitude from Guardiola that pushed his City side to go the distance.
After all, Manchester City went unbeaten in the competition, only drawing to Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig in the first leg of the Round of 16 in their away games in Germany.
Pep Guardiola claimed how Manchester City performed against Borussia Dortmund at home last season was “unacceptable”
Apart from those two outings, City were flawless in Europe’s elite competition, dominating teams left, right and centre.
While the treble-winners were not firing on all cylinders in the Premier League for much of the campaign, they remained largely exceptional in Europe.
After Manchester City came from a goal down to beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home in the group-stage of the Champions League, Pep Guardiola was fuming with their performance.
“We cannot go at one rhythm. Our rhythm is fully gas on everything”, Guardiola said in the first episode of Netflix’s Together: Treble Winners documentary.
Guardiola continued, “It doesn’t matter what happens. You feel safe in that way.”
“And after John [Stones] made that an incredible goal. Erling [Haaland] made an incredible goal. But you have to demand yourself, guys.”
“I don’t have to push you guys, it’s Champions League. When the momentum arrives, push, push and push. You have to do it to yourself.”
Pep Guardiola seemed particularly perturbed with how Manchester City performed against Borussia Dortmund due to how much quality they possess.
“You are too good, guys. You are too good. It’s unacceptable the way you performed today. You know it, you saw it. Want it better and better. Not for me. For you. For me, no. I know your capacities but I need the best of you.”
“You are so good. I don’t want to see you like that. I don’t want to see you.”
“I’m so happy”, he said after the end in a relieved ending to his exasperated assesment.
Pep Guardiola ensures the standards remain sky-high
Despite Manchester City showing immense character and quality to bounce back against Borussia Dortmund, a win was seemingly not enough to satisfy Pep Guardiola.
Guardiola seems to value performances as much as results and he felt that the hosts underperformed on the day.
Thankfully for the Catalan tactician, his side upped the ante eventually, with John Stones and Erling Haaland taking the initiative to score a pair of brilliant goals.
The Manchester City players would likely have been slightly stunned by Guardiola’s reaction after the game and would have been kept on their toes after hearing his thoughts on their performance as a team.