Manchester City vs. Gladbach: Pep Guardiola's Key Pre-Match Presser Quotes

Pep Guardiola has said his Manchester City side are still some way from being competitive with the best teams in Europe despite winning four games from four at the start of the new Premier League season. 

Speaking ahead of City's first UEFA Champions League group clash of 2016-17 against Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday, Guardiola played down his club's position among the European elite, per ESPN's Jonathan Smith:

He also picked out Barcelona's Lionel Messi as the best player in the Champions League—rather than any City player—with the Argentinian superstar having twice won the competition during Guardiola's reign at the Camp Nou, per The Independent's Ian Herbert:

City will have been boosted ahead of their clash with Gladbach at the Etihad Stadium after beating Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Guardiola revealed he and United boss Jose Mourinho did not share a drink after the Sky Blues' victory, per Herbert:

It was the long-term managerial rivals' first meeting in the Premier League, and Mourinho had said he would be happy to invite Guardiola for a drink after the game, per Neil Custis of the Sun.

In further derby fallout, the former Barca and Bayern Munich boss brushed off criticism of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo—whose mistake led to United's goal—and refused to comment on Mourinho's post-match assertion that the Chilean should have been sent off, per the Times' Paul Hirst: "[My goalkeepers] will make mistakes, and the opponents will score goals; I am pretty sure of that. I do not speak about [referees]. The decision is done; sometimes it goes with you or against."

City managed to beat United without key man Sergio Aguero after he picked up a three-game suspension for elbowing West Ham United's Winston Reid.

Guardiola confirmed that the Argentina international is available to face Gladbach, though, per the Manchester Evening News' Stuart Brennan:

Ilkay Gundogan and Vincent Kompany are seemingly not ready yet to turn out for their first appearances of the season, per Hirst:

Despite his double success in the Champions League when in charge at Barca, Guardiola failed to win the famous trophy again during his three seasons with Bayern.

He looks to be building an excellent team at City, though, and he will be eager to take them deep into Europe's top cup competition in 2016-17.

Winning their group will be a challenge given that Barcelona are one of City's opponents. However, making a strong start with a convincing win against Gladbach will send out a statement of intent to the other teams in the tournament.