Frustrated Pep Guardiola gets prickly again over Champions League failure at Man City

Pep Guardiola couldn’t hide his frustration as he was subjected to a latest grilling over Manchester City’s Champions League prospects.

The questions will keep on coming until he proves he can conquer Europe without the aid of Lionel Messi.

Publicly he insists he is not consumed by the prospect of winning the trophy for a third time.

Yet his anguish after painful eliminations at the hands of Liverpool and Tottenham over the past two years tell a different story.

Privately it’s said he is desperate to add to the two Champions League crowns he won at Barcelona when blessed with the talents of Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

In Germany it is considered a blot on his record that he failed to even reach a final with his domestically dominant Bayern Munich.

On these shores it is the last question mark that hangs over him after assembling a squad at a cost of more than half a billion pounds.

Domestic rule – on his terms – has been emphatically secured by winning five of the last six major trophies in English football.

Those close to Guardiola say it is of particular satisfaction to him that he proved his doubters wrong when it was claimed his brand of football would be blown away by the hustle and bustle of the Premier League.

Even at his worst times in his first year at City, he insisted he’d walk away, rather than change his ways.

And there are increasing similarities to his attitude in Europe.

The more he is questioned about a record that has seen him fail to lead City beyond the quarter finals, the more irritated he becomes.

Victory against Atalanta on Tuesday night will put his side on the verge of qualification from the group stages.

But asked about grander targets, his response was terse.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I answered this question so many times. I answered the first time when I arrived here four years ago. We are going to try.

“If we don’t win, we will try again next year. I never played one game as a player or manager thinking I cannot win.

“At the same time, I played every game thinking I can’t lose so I don’t know. We try from day one until the last day.”

The irony will not be lost on Guardiola that in two years in which his side have rolled over Premier League opposition, City have been eliminated from Europe by domestic rivals.

Liverpool stunned his champions two years ago – and last season it was Tottenham who sent them packing on away goals.

That, he insists, is evidence of the unpredictable nature of the competition and why nothing can be taken for granted.

“In this competition, you play against incredible players and if you give some team in one moment a metre, they will score,” he said. “We have to know that.

“Sometimes qualification depends on a save from Ederson. Little margins are the difference. We are working on about it.

“I really believe these situations is about the mentality. We are good enough, we are strong enough. We believe that.

“Little margins are the difference in the Champions League.

“It was always like this. We’ve got to think, to know when things are dangerous. When we talk about boxes it’s always the defence but it is in front too. That is where we have to improve.

“In Europe teams don’t give you 20 chances. The players know this. We’ve spoken many times about it.

“After creating chances you have to be solid, you cannot give away the goals we’ve given this season.”