Pep Guardiola: 'I want Bayern Munich to go through'

Pep Guardiola has stoked the fire with Premier League rivals Liverpool by declaring his support for Champions League opponents Bayern Munich in Wednesday’s last-16 tie.

The Bavarians host Jurgen Klopp’s men at the Allianz Arena, with the contest delicately poised following a goalless first leg.

Liverpool will be hoping to go the distance again this season, having reached the Champions League final in 2018 before losing to Real Madrid.

But with Real out of the tournament, Liverpool could be one of the favourites to win Europe’s elite competition – if they make it past Bayern.

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AS IT HAPPENED: Man City put seven past Schalke

But Guardiola, who managed Bayern for three seasons before joining Manchester City, has declared his support for the Bundesliga giants.

“I’m sorry for the English people but I want Bayern to go through,” Guardiola said.

“I am part of this club. I love Munich. I love Bayern. I have a lot of friends there.”

City themselves will be looking forward to Friday’s Champions League quarter-final draw after knocking out FC Schalke 10-2 on aggregate.

The Manchester side won a rollercoaster first leg 3-2 in Germany, with 10 men, before steamrolling their opponents on home soil with a 7-0 victory on Tuesday night.

Sergio Aguero scored twice as Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Gabriel Silva all got in on the fun.

It was the seventh time this season the Premier League leaders have scored at least six goals in a match and the biggest loss of a German side in Champions League history.

And Guardiola could well be fearful of another Liverpool match-up, with Klopp responsible for knocking his side out of the competition in the quarter-finals last season.

“Last week we saw what happened with good results in the second leg, so we were serious, we did it and I’m incredibly happy to be in Friday’s draw,” he said.

“We started the first 20-25 minutes trying not to lose what we achieved in Germany, that’s why we didn’t attack, and Leroy [Sane] and Raheem [Sterling] had no intention of being aggressive towards their full-backs.

“But we didn’t lose what we achieved and when we scored the first and the second goals qualification was almost done.

“After that we played in a good level. We didn’t concede chances, even in the last 15 minutes of the first half, and in the second half we were good in the transition and scored seven goals.

“I know that Schalke are in a tough period because they lost the last game and their confidence was low, but even with that situation you have to do your job and we did it.”