Fernandinho: City must focus on Champions League qualification, not Guardiola

Fernandinho has urged Manchester City to put thoughts of Pep Guardiola’s impending arrival aside and focus on finishing the season in the strongest possible manner.

Guardiola will take over from Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the campaign, with City facing a tense race to secure Champions League qualification ahead of the Spaniard’s arrival.

Pellegrini’s team are fourth in the Premier League, just four points clear of Manchester United, and entertain Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie at the Etihad on Tuesday with the score 2-2 on aggregate.

Fernandinho is eager for City to focus on the task at hand, rather than think about what the off-season will hold under their new coach.

He told Omnisport: “Look, I think we have a huge responsibility here. Of course this coaching change can mess with one player or another, but I personally prefer to think of now, because City get a new coach for the next season, but if we do not reach a place for the next Champions League it will be a very difficult thing for all of us.

“We have to think right now, we are fourth in the Premier League, we are in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time, so we cannot be thinking about what will happen in three or four months when the new coach arrives.

“We have to think about now, trying to achieve the positive results now because the future will depend just on what happens now.

“That’s what I try to do and every day when I go to train, in every game I try to prepare myself in the best possible way. For me, in football everything is possible and every game is a battle.”