Pep Guardiola has played down claims that Manchester City are the favourites to win the Champions League because of the club’s history in the competition.
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has insisted several times that City are the team to beat in both the Premier League and in Europe.
However, Guardiola has refuted the Italian’s claims on Sunday as he attended the festival of sport in Italy with Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti.
“Manchester City can’t be considered the favourite for the Champions League,” Guardiola said at Festival dello Sport in Italy.
“Our history tells us that a semi-final is the maximum we could get. I don’t know if we are ready.
“We should be very, very good to be favourite. Juve, for example, are getting closer and closer.”
City reached the last four of the competition in the 2015-16 season before they were knocked out by eventual winners Real Madrid.
The Premier League champions fell one short of matching their best-ever finish in the competition last season when Liverpool beat them in both legs of their quarter-final encounter.
The club’s next game in the Champions League is a trip to Shakhtar Donetsk where they will be looking to recover from their rocky start to their European campaign.
