Guardiola: 'Why should we play for a draw?'

A draw would seal progress for Manchester City in the Champions League but Pep Guardiola is ready for another attacking feast with Napoli.

Published : Nov 01, 2017 03:00 IST

Pep Guardiola is not ready to shelve Manchester City's attacking style at Napoli – even though a draw would be enough to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola is not ready to shelve Manchester City's attacking style at Napoli – even though a draw would be enough to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
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Pep Guardiola is not ready to shelve Manchester City's attacking style at Napoli – even though a draw would be enough to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola is not ready to shelve Manchester City's attacking style at Napoli – even though a draw would be enough to secure a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Early goals from Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus set up a pulsating 2-1 win for Guardiola's men when the sides met at the Etihad Stadium two weeks ago, making it three wins out of three in Group F for the Premier League leaders.

READ: Pep Guardiola: 'Always we can do better'

Napoli responded to that setback by taking seven points from three games in the interim period to retain their position at the top of Serie A.

Guardiola and opposite number Maurizio Sarri again spoke warmly of one another at their pre-match news conferences in Naples but the City boss promised more of the same from a team that has plundered 45 goals in all competitions so far this term.

"Why should we play for a draw when you can play for a win?" he told reporters.

READ: Guardiola wants more from 'special' Sane

"We will certainly take the pitch to win the game and then we will see what happens during the game.

"We have plenty of respect for Napoli, for the way they play, but this is a match; football is a game and fear cannot exist.

"We will just try to play a good game. We are a young club in Europe, we don't have the experience of other top clubs.

"So this is another test for us, let's see if we are continuing to grow."

Napoli only has three points at the midway point of the group after lost its opener away to Shakhtar Donetsk, with both sides having overcome Eredivisie champions Feyenoord. "Manchester City, Napoli and Shakthar are very similar, they are all very strong teams," Guardiola added.

"I don't want to show a lack of respect to Feyenoord because Dutch football gave us so much but I think the other three teams are more or less at the same level.

"I repeat that I love watching Napoli play. I think in this sport it is important when you can transfer emotions to the fans and Napoli are always trying to do that."

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