Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola knows importance of handling environment, winning duels against Bayern Munich

Former Bayern Munich boss and current Manchester City skipper Pep Guardiola will not take his old club for granted — even if the Citizens hold a 3-0 advantage on aggregate.

“We have a final in four days. I know the character and personality in this stadium, the players they have, the German mentality. We have to work a lot in being stable mentally in bad moments, be so aggressive and go there to score goals and win the game,” Guardiola said at a press conference (as captured by Beanyman Sports via @iMiaSanMia). “I want a team that will go there to win the game. We can’t go there to just...because I know exactly how the environment is in Munich. If we’re a little passive, we’ll suffer.”

Guardiola thinks the game could come down how well some of his players — including Manuel Akanji — can win duels against Bayern Munich’s formidable attack.

“I have the feeling that especially Akanji and other ones, thanks to winning duels, we could make an action to attack. Otherwise, with the runners they have, with (Kingsley) Coman, Leroy (Sané), (Serge) Gnabry, (Thomas) Müller, (Jamal) Musiala or whoever is going to play, they’ll do it,” Guardiola said. “Sometimes you need conflicts to make that team more together. I know this club perfectly. The players will do their best, Bayern will do their best performance on Wednesday.”