Pep Guardiola Says Manchester City Not Yet Ready to Win the Champions League

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said his side are not ready to win the UEFA Champions League and has called on the club's fans to help push them to continental glory. 

Almost 15,000 of the Etihad Stadium's 55,000 seats were vacant for the Group F loss to Lyon—which Guardiola watched from the stands—and the Catalan called on supporters to show more passion for the competition, via ESPN FC:

The Citizens face Shakhtar Donetsk at the Metalist Stadium in Kharkiv on Tuesday and are hoping to remain on the winning track after ending a four-match Champions League losing streak against Hoffenheim.

Defeat to Lyon in September followed last season's consecutive losses to Basel and Liverpool (twice), the latter of which knocked them out of the competition at the quarter-final stage.

It took Guardiola only two seasons to dominate the Premier League, but Guardiola has picked the fans out specifically as something that needs to change if their scope is to be increased to the continental scale.

Sports writer Duncan Castles was seemingly critical of the comments, however, and suggested the money Guardiola has spent since arriving at the helm in 2016 is ammunition enough to challenge for the crown:

Guardiola did it three times with Barcelona, once as a player (1992) and twice as manager (2009, 2011). 

He was unable to replicate that European success in three seasons with Bayern Munich, leading Die Roten to three successive Champions League semi-final exits between 2014 and 2016.

City's sole run to the semi-finals was in 2015-16, when they were narrowly beaten by eventual champions Real Madrid over two legs, although it was Guardiola's predecessor, Manuel Pellegrini, who was then at the helm.

The pressure is on for the players to go further and eventually win the tournament, too, or at least midfielder Ilkay Gundogan believes so, via ESPN FC:

City fans' dislike for UEFA was recently explained by Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News and has been influenced by the body's handling of numerous incidents involving he club.

However, it's suggested the £49 million fine they received in 2014 for failing to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations is the biggest reason for their disdain, evidenced when they boo the Champions League anthem.

The Champions League is a UEFA competition, however, and City may need to put their past squabbles behind them if they're to show Guardiola the support he feels they need to finally conquer it.