Pep Guardiola has admitted that following next season would not be a problem in the Champions League ', but it urges that it is not the end of the Manchester City dynasty.
The boss of the club pointed to the number of teams that tried – and failed – to qualify for the most important competition of European football, but claimed that it is possible to set up a comeback after their 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
He said: “qualification for the Champions League would be a great success, but you have to win. Whether there are five, six or seven (places) to win games. I want to qualify for the Champions League.
“It would not be good (if we didn't do that), but I saw what happened to other Premier League teams in the past. Not being in the Champions League would be a problem, but there are teams that did not come back and they are now there.
“How many years were Manchester City in the Champions League in February? Ten years? No, more than that. And we never played them in the competition before.”
England can get a different place in the Champions League via the co-efficient rankings of UEFA. Guardiola would leave that with an outing and he claimed that the club is still striving for that top-four finish.
He added: “We are used to doing exceptional things and we have to try to do it, but we wake up in the morning and try to continue and do a good season next season.”
“In knockout games, details sometimes make the difference, but in the Premier League more than 38 games if you are unable to finish in the first four or five, it is because we were not good enough.
“We will have to continue next season, but we have 10 games, it's still in our hands and we're going to try it.”
City is currently in fifth place in the Premier League table, which could be enough to guarantee Champions League football if things stand, but Brighton, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Newcastle are all within three points and ready to take advantage of more slip-ups.
However, the Sky Blues are still at the distance of third and fourth place. Nottingham Forest is four points above them at 51 points, while Chelsea is two points above them.
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