Belgrade –
Manchester City not only qualified perfectly for the last 16 of the Champions League. The defending champion also set a record.
Manchester City closed their journey in the group phase with a narrow 3-2 win at Red Star Belgrade headquarters, Thursday (14/12/2023) early morning WIB. Citizens, who were confirmed to qualify as group winners, appeared with a number of young players.
Micah Hamilton and Oscar Bobb gave Man City a two-goal lead, then Red Star responded through Hwang In Beom. Kalvin Phillips’ penalty restored the two-goal margin, before it was narrowed again by Aleksandar Katai.
This result means Man City won all six group phase matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding only seven times. Only Real Madrid also qualified by sweeping the group phase.
Man City’s clean sweep took them to a record. Pep Guardiola’s team became the first English club to string together eight consecutive wins in the Champions Cup/Champions League.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola emphasized that his team never let off the gas pedal, even though qualification was within reach.
“This was a match characterized by a difficult battle, physically demanding with a lot of contact. But I am happy with what we achieved and how the team performed,” he told UEFA.
“People sometimes think that matches like this are not important for us, but it’s quite the opposite. Every win is meaningful,” added the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach.
Watch the video ‘Manchester City wins narrowly 3-2 over Red Star’:
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