After pulling off a last-minute heist against FC Schalke, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is not going too far ahead of himself and believes that his side is not yet ready to win the Champions League. City were struggling when Leroy Sane's freekick in the 85th minute and then Raheem Sterling's 90th-minute winner sealed the deal for the visitors.
"The result is incredibly good, three goals away is good. We gave [Schalke] the first goal, we gave the second goal and we gave the red card. In that level, still, we are not ready to fight for the Champions League, but the result is good," he told reporters in the post-match conference.
Guardiola also conceded that Germany was always a difficult place to play, hence the away goals and the win are very critical. Not thinking too far ahead, the manager said that the tie is not yet over and hopes the fans can help the side get over the line in the home clash.
'Hopefully, our fans can help us in second leg'
"The result is good, [the tie] is not over. Hopefully, our fans can help us in the second leg and hopefully we can improve for the future," he said. City took the early lead, but then slipped away and only the twin strikes in the final few minutes salvaged the win, but the lapses in concentration could prove to be costly in the tournament.
"The way we played, the way we started, the way we finished, the way we reacted 10 against 11, the way we reacted at half-time, 2-1 [down], in the second half we played incredibly good. I'm more than delighted, but it's not enough in this competition," he added.
City's next big challenge will be against Chelsea in Sunday's EFL Cup final at Wembley. Despite the ambitions of Pep, concerns remain for City in Europe and Wednesday's result proved exactly that. Lyon, Schalke, and Hoffenheim have all posed questions to City's title challenge and they need to sort out the impediments if they are to get their hands on the silverware.
