Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City came close to a shock early Champions League exit before staging a comeback to beat Club Brugge 3-1 on Wednesday, securing a playoff showdown against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
The Belgian champions were on course to eliminate City before the knockout stages for the first time since 2012 when Raphael Onyedika fired the visitors ahead just before halftime. With only two wins from their opening seven games in the competition’s new format, City needed all three points—and they delivered just in time.
“We were 45 minutes from being out. It’s an incredible lesson for me and the club that nothing is taken for granted,” Guardiola admitted.
Mateo Kovacic’s strike from the edge of the box sparked City’s turnaround before Brugge defender Joel Ordonez inadvertently turned Josko Gvardiol’s cross into his net. Substitute Savinho sealed the win with a powerful finish, easing Guardiola’s nerves.
Despite the victory, City now face an even bigger challenge against one of Europe’s elite clubs next month.
Guardiola pointed out that his side had battled through “a million problems” to reach the next phase. However, reinforcements are on the way, with new signings Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov, and Vitor Reis set to be registered, while key players like Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias could return from injury.
“In two weeks, we will be better than we are now,” Guardiola said. “Against these two giants, one of them we are going to play, we’ll see how we arrive.”
Brugge, despite suffering their first defeat in 22 matches, also progressed to 24th place and will face either Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund in the next round.
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