Pep pleased with the quality his side has to offer

Pep Guardiola felt Lyon were a step up from domestic opponents after
Manchester City scrambled to a 2-2 draw in the Champions League.

The Premier League leaders twice needed to come from behind as they were outplayed for large spells by the French side in Tuesday’s Group F clash in France.

The City manager said: “Today the Champions League showed me again that it’s a different competition, the players are better, the demands are so high.

“They have weapons on set-pieces, defensively are so strong, they have quality up front. When people say it’s easy for the Champions League, you cannot imagine how confused people are. After losing the first game, here was not a surprise.

“But in February we’ll be there, another year for City. We can focus on the Premier League and try to compete against the best teams in Europe when February comes.”

Guardiola, who twice won the Champions League as Barcelona coach, feels the demands are completely different from the Premier League, which City won comfortably last season.

He said: “You don’t have time. You can lose games in the Premier League and still have 38 games. Here there is huge quality for 180 minutes.

“We showed personality. We got the point that we needed for February. Qualifying for the last 16 is the happiest time for November and December.”

City twice fell behind to goals from the outstanding Maxwel Cornet, who also hit the woodwork, but responded with headed equalisers from Aymeric Laporte and Sergio Aguero.

The result ensured City qualified for the last 16, with attentions moving back to the Premier League, as the prepare for the visit of free scoring AFC Bournemouth.