MANCHESTER, England -- Even when Manchester City have blitzed a path toward the biggest trophies, manager Pep Guardiola has always said his first target is Champions League qualification.
It's often sneered at, or lost entirely because there are more important things at stake. This season, though, it's become more pertinent: it's all Guardiola has left.
Out of the ongoing Champions League campaign and the Premier League title race, City are desperately fighting to make sure this season only goes down as a disappointment rather than an unmitigated disaster. Missing out on qualification for next season's Champions League would put their 2024-25 campaign firmly in that latter category.