Pep Guardiola basked in his side’s impressive form after securing a spot in the Champions League last 16 with a 2-1 defeat of Paris Saint-Germain.
City will finish top of Group A thanks to the victory, becoming just the second English club to win their group in five successive seasons in the competition’s current format.
It was hardly a sure thing, as City fell behind on Kylian Mbappe’s goal five minutes after half-time, but Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus netted to lift the home side.
“We played really well and the way we are performing is really good,” Guardiola told a news conference.
“People enjoy watching us and we are enjoying playing. Hopefully we can sustain this as long as possible.”
1 – Manchester City’s victory ensures they will finish top of their Champions League group for the fifth consecutive season – just the second English side to do so in the current format of the competition after Manchester United between 2006-07 and 2010-11. Dominant.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 24, 2021
City prevailed despite playing without Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, giving Oleksandr Zinchenko just his third start of the season and his first for city in a central midfield role, where he typically plays for Ukraine.
That move worked out for Guardiola, who also praised his team for the way they handled the challenge of defending Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi.
“PSG – what a team, what players, what can I say?” Guardiola said.
“We tried to keep these players far away from our goal. When they are close to your goal they can do anything.
“Except for five minutes after we conceded, when they [went for the] knockout on the counter-attack but couldn’t finish, we made a really top performance.
“We are happy to be in the next stage. Congratulations to everyone in the club. It’s many years of being there.
“Now we will focus on the Premier League and try to arrive in February in the best condition possible to go to the quarter-finals.”
