Manchester City: Pep Guardiola Believes They Need to Win Elusive Honor to Be Among Greatest Teams

Pep Guardiola - Manchester City v Chelsea FC - Premier League

(Photo : Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, poses for a photograph with the Premier League Trophy following the Premier League match between Manchester City and Chelsea FC at Etihad Stadium on May 21, 2023 in Manchester, England.

Manchester City Pep Guardiola believes his Manchester City team needs to win an honor that has eluded them to be considered among the greatest football teams of all time.

Pep Guardiola said Man City has to win the Champions League in order to be considered one of the greatest teams in history 👀 pic.twitter.com/V5vnynURPZ
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 22, 2023

By winning five of the last six Premier League trophies, City has cemented their legacy in English football with their unparalleled success in the last half-decade.

Manchester City Needs to Win Champions League to Cement Legacy

However, despite their impressive domestic success, the decorated manager said that Manchester City must win the UEFA Champions League; otherwise, people would say their time would "not be complete."

🗣 "To be considered one of the greatest teams, we have to win the Champions League."

Pep Guardiola reflects on the records broken with Manchester City. However, outlines that the European trophy would allow them to be considered one of the best 🏆 pic.twitter.com/oQgG5PPyQg
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 22, 2023

Although Guardiola said it's unfair that winning the Champions League is needed to give credit or value to what they have done, he embraces the challenge and thinks it is good overall.

Guardiola previously won the competition twice in 2009 and 2011 with Barcelona, with those squads ranked among the best teams.

Meanwhile, Manchester City narrowly missed out on their first European glory in 2021 when they were defeated by fellow English side Chelsea in the final, 1-0.

Since that agonizing defeat, they have retooled their squad to add key players, Jack Grealish, Julian Alvarez, and most notably, Erling Haaland, among others, to continue their reign in England.

Renowned Spanish journalist Guillem Balague has called the current City squad "historic on so many levels" on the Football Daily podcast.