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Pep Guardiola has named Liverpool as one of the side’s most capable of preventing his Manchester City side from finally lifting the Champions League this season.

The Cityzens served notice of their intentions with a statement 5-0 win over Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their round of 16 tie. With a quarter-final clash now virtually guaranteed, many are tipping City as this season’s favourites. That’s certainly a tag Peter Crouch is happy to place on Guardiola’s side.

Guardiola, though, insists he is not getting carried away, especially after a number of near-misses for City. Furthermore, the perfectionist of a manager still managed to pick holes in Tuesday’s win in Lisbon.

And despite their seemingly assured place in the last eight, Guardiola admits he is already wary of Liverpool.

Asked by Peter Schmeichel on which teams can prevent them from winning it, Guardiola did not hesitate.

He said: “Liverpool are six points behind us [in the Premier League]. Liverpool have been our biggest rivals in the last few seasons and was always there as a pain in the a** all the time. They are a fantastic team in Europe.”

City have been dumped out of the competition by the Reds in recent years too. In the 2017/18 campaign, Jurgen Klopp’s side defeated them 5-1 on aggregate on their way through to the Kiev final.

Crouch tips up Pep Guardiola and City

Crouch, meanwhile, reckons he can forsee another all-English final should they manage to avoid one another in the draws.

“We are living through an exciting time for English football and are currently in a spell of Premier League dominance,” Crouch wrote in a column for the Daily Mail.

“Two all-English finals in three years says it all and you would not bet against that turning into three out of four when Saint Petersburg comes around on May 28.

“I cannot see much past the Premier League clubs. Liverpool and City are my favourites and I’m struggling to split them in Europe.

“Chelsea, crowned world champions over the weekend, have a real opportunity to defend the trophy too.

“Joe Cole still keeps in touch with the guys at Lille and they fancy their chances in their last-16 match but Chelsea should be too strong.”

Bernardo Silva happy with City win

Two-goal hero Bernardo Silva was delighted with the result in his homeland, conflicting the words of Pep Guardiola, stating: “It was a very good performance. In the first half we were in that mood to win 4-0. We were a bit sloppy which gave them the opportunity to counter-attack but we were very clinical. You need some luck as well. We are very happy with the win. To win 5-0 away is a great result and it’s a great performance.

“Sometimes you play better than we did in that first half and we have gone in 0-0. We can always still improve.

“I am Portuguese and I’m from the other side of the city so it was special to score here in my hometown. It was nice to start the last 16 with a 5-0 win. It’s always an extra motivation to come here to Lisbon in such an important game. There is still a job to do in Manchester. We cannot relax.

“It was a great goal and I’m happy to help the team. You have to keep going. 2-0 is better than 3-0. 4-0 is better than 3-0. You cannot relax. We try to do our best no matter what the score is.

“Was I very offside? It would have been great to score a hat-trick but I’m happy with two goals!”

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