Pep Guardiola hopes Liverpool don't progress to the quarter-finals of UEFA Champions League

The former Barcelona man has been tipped to lead his club to Europe's continental title this season.

Once a Bavarian, always a Bavarian!

After coasting past Schalke with considerable ease, Manchester City gaffer has stated that he would prefer Premier League rivals, Liverpool, to not go past Bayern Munich. The Jurgen Klopp-led side will be travelling to Germany to face FC Hollywood in the second leg of their RO16 clash.

Guardiola's City coasted past Schalke 7-0 (10-2) aggregate in the second-leg of their RO16 clash, enabling them to join Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in quarter-finals of the competition. Liverpool drew to Bayern in the first leg (0-0) at Anfield, and will need to go all out to grab a crucial away goal.

Guardiola, who has managed Bayern in the past, said, "I am sorry for the English people, I want Bayern to go through."

He also added, "I am part of this club, I had an incredible three years. I love Munich and have a lot of friends there. It is a demanding game for both but I feel I like Bayern Munich and hopefully they can go through. In terms of what happened with Spanish teams and German teams, arriving many times in the finals, this season it is a surprise."

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The former Barcelona gaffer also quipped, "Hopefully Barcelona tomorrow can go through [against Lyon] and reach the quarter-finals. For English football, it is nice that there are three teams in the quarterfinals and Liverpool maybe."

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He also went on to praise Cristiano Ronaldo for his match-winning display against Atletico Madrid. After losing the first leg, 2-0, Juventus welcomed Diego Simeone's side in Italy with a fantastic 3-0 win. Guardiola said, "This guy, Cristiano Ronaldo… he goes there to win the Champions League. Two times they have lost [in the final recently], they get Cristiano to go there. They have all the pressure on his shoulders and he scores three goals against Atletico Madrid. That is the type of teams we have to face."

Manchester City are one of the favourites to win the Champions League this season, with the English team overcoming a slow start to this season. Domestically too, they are ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League title race.