Man City vs Monchengladbach preview: Pep plays down quadruple talk

Pep Guardiola has played down talk of a quadruple ahead of Manchester City's Champions League clash with Borussia Monchengladbach.

After winning the first leg of their last-16 tie 2-0, City face the Germans on neutral territory in Budapest as they look to book their spot in the quarter-finals for the fourth season running.

City are 14 points clear in the Premier League, play Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final in April and have an FA Cup quarter-final at Everton on Saturday, leading Oleksandr Zinchenko to claim success on all four fronts was within reach.

Guardiola halts quadruple talk

But Guardiola, 50, was quick to pour cold water on that possibility.

He said: "Four titles has never happened before and I don’t think it will happen this season with the situation.

"The only thing to think about is this game and then Everton. I don’t know what will happen at the end of the season but normally it does not happen.

"Right now [this City team] is worse than the previous ones because the other ones won a lot and this team hasn’t won anything.

"We are validated for the trophies we can win, especially from the outside. The previous teams won. This team has to prove it."

Concentration is key

Guardiola (pictured above) also warned against complacency — despite City only conceding one goal in the Champions League this season.

He added: "[Clean sheets] are so important in all competitions.

"What we’ve done in the past is good but it doesn’t mean it will happen again. Every game is different, let’s try to minimise the mistakes.

"I have incredible respect for Gladbach. They have weapons and they know how to use it. I want to see the team try to win the game."

Struggling Germans

Gladbach suffered a fourth successive Bundesliga defeat on Friday, losing 3-1 to Augsburg as they slipped to 10th in the table.

Boss Marco Rose, who is bound for Borussia Dortmund at the end of the campaign, said: "We're not getting the right results but it helps to go into the details and analyse the basics.

"We have to change small things to help us get back to winning ways.

"We know the calibre of opponent we're up against in City — and not just because of the first leg. We need to defend well and try to bring our strengths to the fore in attack."

City welcome Raheem Sterling back into their squad after he missed the 3-0 victory at Fulham on Saturday.

Did you know?

City are unbeaten in five games against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League (won four and drawn one), scoring at least two goals in each of their four victories.

Since beating Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 and 4-0 in consecutive Champions League games in the group stage, Monchengladbach have lost three in a row and failed to score in the most recent two.

Since the start of the 2016-17 season, Raheem Sterling has scored 13 goals in home games for City in the Champions League (19 appearances). That is the most of any player for the club and also the most by an Englishman in the competition in that period.