Spanish tactician Pep Guardiola has maintained that he has no pressure of winning the Champions League with Manchester City.

City travel to face Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday evening wand there has been a feeling that Guardiola is under pressure to deliver the European title for his bosses at the Etihad. 

Asked if he was under any pressure in his Monday presser, Pep said: “You can ask as many times as you want (about the pressure). Does it bother me? No. We are here, we are in the Champions League. It is an honor, a pleasure to travel to Portugal to try to compete well and try to win the game.

“I have been in the business as a manager – we are exposed and get punished by the criticism when you don’t get results. Not just me, all the managers. It is not absolutely a problem. Otherwise, you have to decide to do another job.

“To do better than last season is not easy. We are excited and happy to be in this competition at this stage. I know how important the Champions League is – we cannot deny it – but we take every Premier League game seriously and we saw how we behaved against Norwich was the best proof that we want to do it every single game, not just in the Champions League,” Guardiola said.

City has dominated domestically across the past decade but have so far found success in Europe elusive.