Guardiola: Man City believe they can defend Champions League title

Pep Guardiola feels his Manchester City side are playing like a team that believes they can win the Champions League again.

The City boss also saluted the team’s consistency after they secured their place in the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition with a comfortable victory over FC Copenhagen.

City eased to a 3-1 win in the second leg of their last-16 tie at the Etihad Stadium to complete a convincing 6-2 aggregate success.

Guardiola said: “We are a team that believes we can do it. Listen, we’re competing with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but the important thing is that seven years in a row we are here. Consistency.

“I felt the people when we arrived from a club like Barcelona and Bayern Munich – where they demand to always be there – I felt the club, not the players, didn’t feel it.

“We are here because we needed time. People, managers don’t get time, hierarchies don’t get time. But they gave us time to lose against Monaco, lose against Liverpool, lose against Tottenham – all (part of) the process to do it, because when a team comes from never ever being in that position, you cannot do it.

“It is easy for clubs that have big history – start with the best ones, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Man United – they have been used to it.

“You need time and they gave me time. Now we are in a process where we can lose, definitely, but we can compete everywhere because we’ve come from the final, semi-final, final, now the quarter-finals again. That means our consistency in Europe.”

A much-changed City largely went through the motions after early goals from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez put them on course.

Mohamed Elyounoussi pulled one back for the spirited Danes but they were ultimately