Guardiola sent two more critical messages to his club and everyone sitting at home.
On two occasions, Pep stated that in Champions League matches, that you will be punished for making mistakes.
The first time this was mentioned was in response to a question about the La Liga champion’s defensive mistakes.
The second time he brought it up was in praise for the fact that in this critical match-up against a quality opponent, Manchester City’s defense did not make any fatal errors.
The Karim Benzema goal in the first half was more about the quality of the goal chance rather than a defensive error. It was an excellent cross to a lethal forward who headed the ball in. It was a near-perfect execution.
The City boss’s message to his club here was important:
We can’t make the same mistakes as we did during the league season if we hope to lift the Champions League trophy.
Guardiola’s last message was to the rest of the footie world.
When he was asked about Manchester City’s chances at winning the Champions League in the upcoming one-off format, Pep furrowed his brow, looked aside, scoffed, and stated:
"“And you speak with all the teams that will be there, they will think the same. Why are we so special, so different to win the Champions League than the other ones? I don’t see one reason why.” —Pep Guardiola, post match press conference, August 7, 2020."
Many times, introverts have no patience for what they perceive as incompetence.
The Manchester City manager, disliked the question, one he has been asked repeatedly for years, so much that to him it signaled in flashing lights: Incompetent.
Yet, it was another opportunity to send one last message.
We are not as good as everyone thinks we are, including our players. We are going to Portugal, and it’s us against them.
If there was a The Wire-like opening credit quote for City’s season so far, it is: Everyone hates us for being good. It’s us against the world.
The post-match conference after a “satisfying” victory exhausted the introverted Catalan born manager. Still, in less than ten minutes, Pep sent messages that will linger for the days to come.