Pep Guardiola pleased with Manchester City’s performance after ‘long time’

ORLANDO: Pep Guardiola praised Manchester City’s 5-2 performance against Juventus in the FIFA Club World Cup saying ‘It has been a long time since we had a performance like this’.

Jeremy Doku opened the scoring for City in Thursday’s encounter followed by Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Savinho and an own goal from Pierre Kalulu to help the Premier League club outclass the Italian side.

Guardiola’s side entered the United States following a disastrous performance in the previous season. However, Pep believes the team's performance against Juventus might be a hint of getting on the track.

"I liked the way we did it," Guardiola said.

"It has been a long time since we had a performance like this on and off the ball. The players were committed and we are happy to beat a top side.

"This is just one game, but I think the players felt again what it was like to be a good team. The belief always comes from your performances, not your past."

City defeated Wydad AC and Al Ain with a relatively weak XI. But against Juventus, Guardiola opted for a stronger side, which outclassed the opposition.

Guardiola said that the players felt like a strong unit for a long time, and the team performed like they used to in the last decade.

"The players felt for the first time in a long, long time we performed the way we perform," said Guardiola.

"The previous two games we won but today we adjusted a few things and the performance was really good. The crowd was strong and made an incredible impact again like the first two games as well.

"I'm really pleased as the most important thing is the players need to realise what we have to do to be the way we were the last decade.”