Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are not ready to challenge for the Champions League after their performance against Schalke.
City gifted Schalke a 2-1 lead in Gelsenkirchen courtesy of two penalties, the first a handball against Nicolas Otamendi and the second for a Fernandinho push on Salif Sane from a free-kick, before the Argentine defender was also later dismissed for a second yellow card.
The Premier League champions would go on to wrap up a sensational last-minute comeback win through Raheem Sterling, but while Guardiola was pleased with the result, the performance left him worried about their hopes should they progress to the latter stages.
He said:
“The result is incredible, three goals away, but we gave away the goals and the red card.
“In this level we don’t have a chance. Still we are not ready to fight for the Champions League. After the red card maybe if they’d pushed more and scored a third or fourth then maybe we’re out.
“It is not over. Hopefully our fans can help us in the second leg and hopefully we can improve for the future.
“We played good, but we lost some easy balls that we’re not allowed to do in the competition.”