Tuesday 12 September 2017 20:56, UK
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are still "growing up" and admits he does not know if they can compete for titles.
Manchester City kick off their Champions League campaign against Feyenoord on Wednesday, having spent more than £200m in the summer after Guardiola ended his first season in English football without a trophy.
Although Guardiola hailed the backing from his Manchester City board, he still raised concerns over his side's maturity heading into another European campaign.
"I'm so satisfied with that [City's summer transfer business] but I don't know, believe me I don't know if we are able to compete for titles right now because we are still in the process to grow up," Guardiola said in his pre-match press conference.
"We are happy with the players we have, they can imagine 'we can do good, better than last season', but seriously, I don't know. We will see what happens."
Guardiola won the Bundesliga in each of his seasons in charge of Bayern Munich, having already claimed La Liga and the Champions League with Barcelona, but the City boss warned against raised expectations of his current side following suit.
"The quality is in all of them," said Guardiola, referring to each of the teams he has managed.
"The only difference in Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the players who play the Champions League, the moment they are going to play they have played many more times before than the players of Manchester City. That is the only difference between them."
Guardiola added: "Tomorrow [on Wednesday] we play our first game in the group stage. It's a dream to be here again for a club like Manchester City. We fought a lot to be there to qualify. The gap was so close between us and Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester United, so we fought a lot to be here.
"We start our road. It depends on our level. I know how complicated it is. Last season we did not win one game away. I know from my experience even in Barcelona and Bayern Munich how it is to qualify for the next stage. We made the semi-finals [at Bayern] but it was so tough.
"It doesn't matter who we are playing, the famous teams or the lower teams. Hopefully the players can enjoy being here. We are starting in a country that appreciates and loves football and we will try to do our best."
