Guardiola: Man City's job will be incomplete without Champions League triumph

Pep Guardiola has insisted the desire to win the Champions League was not his only motivation for signing a new contract with Manchester City, but he accepts the job would seem incomplete without a European triumph.

Guardiola was granted an extension at City last month, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2024-25 season.

City enjoyed vast domestic success under the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona manager, winning the Premier League four times in the past five seasons.

However, a Champions League win eluded them. They lost to Chelsea in the 2021 final and succumbed to Real Madrid in last season's semi-finals.

Guardiola knows it will be a stain on his balance sheet if City cannot put an end to their bad luck in the competition before he leaves.

"I accept it's the trophy we want and of course it wouldn't be complete - my period here - if we didn't win it," Guardiola told reporters ahead of the EFL Cup clash of City with Liverpool.

"But that's not the only reason why I extended the contract, absolutely not. What does it mean if for the last 11 months we haven't played the Champions League ?

"Of course, I will do everything during this time that we are together, we will try, as we have tried before. Of course, this is the trophy that we don't have and we will try to do it."

City's trophy tally under Guardiola stands at 11, but the 51-year-old is hugely grateful for the trust shown in him by the club's leaders.

“I said several times what I had here. Thank you very much for the confidence they have in me,” he said. “It would be difficult to repay what during these many years, the board, all the people showed me.

"It's hard for me to reject them because they always want me and my staff to try to do our best.

"I don't have enough words to express the incredible gratitude for this club."

After facing Liverpool on Thursday, City resume their Premier League campaign against Leeds United on December 28.