Manchester City’s CEO Ferran Soriano has highlighted why the Champions League group stage is not the most important competition for the club.
Pep Guardiola’s team has gone close to winning club football’s top prize in recent years, but a string of near-misses and spectacular defeats has prolonged their wait. Last season, the Premier League champions gave up a sizable advantage to eventual winners Real Madrid in the final 15 minutes of normal time and the start of extra time.
Despite this, Soriano has stated that the team does not feel any additional pressure to win the Champions League, though he is confident that they will do it one day. The City manager was present for the draw for this season’s group stage, and was questioned if the competition was the club’s priority.
Soriano asserted: “No, it never is. The Premier League is always our top priority; we work hard for it every day; it is our bread and butter. The Champions League is a desire, not an obsession, but I am confident that we will win it.”
His remarks come six months after Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to fire a covert jab at championship rivals City. The Reds right-back questioned Guardiola’s team’s inability to compete on numerous fronts in recent seasons.
“I’m not trying to belittle Man City, but despite their incredible talent, they have yet to win the Champions League. They have won a few of Premier League titles but have yet to win the Champions League. We’ve won both in recent years, demonstrating that we can compete in both.
The City CEO also commented on the group into which his team was drawn, as Guardiola can now prepare games against Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Bundesliga powerhouse Borussia Dortmund.
“I believe you can never be fully delighted or upset with the draw,” he added, “but I think we have fantastic teams to play and it will be great to go back to Sevilla, which we last visited in 2009.” Even though we were in Copenhagen in 2009 and Dortmund lately, this will be a great game, especially for [Erling] Haaland and [Ilkay] Gundogan.”
The match against Dortmund is Haaland’s first return to the Signal Iduna Park since leaving the club earlier this summer to join City. Soriano discussed how the Norwegian striker will react to news of his earlier-than-expected return to his old club’s turf.
“I believe he will enjoy it. It’s a magnificent stadium, and the last time we went there, there were no crowds due to Covid, so supporters in both Dortmund and Manchester will have a fantastic experience. I am overjoyed.”