MANCHESTER // Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has responded to his team’s disappointing Uefa Champions League exit by defending his “exceptional” track record.
Guardiola’s methods were questioned after a 3-1 loss at Monaco that saw City beaten on away goals in a 6-6 aggregate draw, leaving the FA Cup as their only realistic hope of a trophy.
He won seven trophies across his two debut seasons with Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but believes the cut-throat nature of elite football means even winning one trophy is a hugely challenging task.
“I think exceptional other managers in the world sometimes don’t win titles in a season,” Guardiola said ahead of his side’s home game with Liverpool on Sunday.
“That is the normal situation all around the world. The exception is my career. I’m sorry, but that is exceptional.
“So of course we want to win titles. Everyone wants to win titles. We fight for that, we play for that. When that happens we improve and next season we come back and try to win titles.”
Guardiola’s insistence on the word “exceptional” brought to mind the “Special One” moniker earned by Jose Mourinho after he described himself as a “special” manager following his arrival at Chelsea in 2004.
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City tackle Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-finals on April 23 and Guardiola accepts he will come under scrutiny if he does not lead the club to glory in the competition.
“The boss, the chairman, the sporting director, they are going to decide what’s best for the club,” he told reporters at City’s training base.
“Of course my job depends on winning titles or not and if we’re not winning titles, they judge me about the results. If it’s not good they are going to say ‘bye-bye’.
“I didn’t come here just to have fun and play good. I want to win. I’d be happier to be involved in the draw for the Champions League [quarter-finals].
“That is normal. But it can happen for any manager in the world and that sometimes you don’t win. That I know.”
He added: “In Barcelona and Bayern Munich, when we went out of the Champions League I know what they said. Sometimes it’s not easy to accept that, but it’s part of my job.
“I will try to learn from that, speak to the people that are close to me and make the team is better next season. That’s all.
“Now we have to fight to win games to qualify for the Champions League and for the semi-finals of the FA Cup.”
Guardiola’s debut season has proved far more taxing than it appeared it would be in its formative weeks when City opened the campaign with 10 consecutive victories in all competitions.
They have failed to mount a serious challenge to Premier League leaders Chelsea and, for the first time in his managerial career, Guardiola has exited the Champions League before the semi-finals.
However, the City manager correctly pointed out that he never guaranteed success when he took over in a blaze of publicity at the Etihad Stadium last year.
“People believe Pep is sitting here so now they are going to win the title. Easy. You are wrong,” he said.
“I never said we are going to win one title. I never said I was going to win the treble, I never said I was going to win the double. I never said that.
“I never said that in my first day at Barcelona, sitting there. I promised a lot of work. Few guys can beat me at that. I work. I am so proud of that. But I never promise titles, never in my life.
“Even when I went to Bayern Munich and they won the treble with Jupp Heynckes. Never. Just work. And to be assured they are going to play the way I want. The only I power I have is this.”
* Agence France-Presse
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The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
The stats
Ship name: MSC Bellissima
Ship class: Meraviglia Class
Delivery date: February 27, 2019
Gross tonnage: 171,598 GT
Passenger capacity: 5,686
Crew members: 1,536
Number of cabins: 2,217
Length: 315.3 metres
Maximum speed: 22.7 knots (42kph)
Company%20profile
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Walls
Louis Tomlinson
3 out of 5 stars
(Syco Music/Arista Records)
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Saturday's results
Women's third round
- 14-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-2, 6-2
- Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1
- 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-4. 6-0
- Coco Vandeweghe (USA) beat Alison Riske (USA) 6-2, 6-4
- 9-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat 19-Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
- Petra Martic (Croatia) beat Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) 7-6, 6-1
- Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-2, 6-1
- 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Polona Hercog (Slovenia) 6-4, 6-0
Men's third round
- 13-Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-1, 6-1 -- retired
- Sam Queery (United States) beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
- 6-Milos Raonic (Canada) beat 25-Albert Ramos (Spain) 7-6, 6-4, 7-5
- 10-Alexander Zverev (Germany) beat Sebastian Ofner (Austria) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
- 11-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat David Ferrer (Spain) 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
- Adrian Mannarino (France) beat 15-Gael Monfils (France) 7-6, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
Drivers’ championship standings after Singapore:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - 263
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari - 235
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - 212
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull - 162
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari - 138
6. Sergio Perez, Force India - 68
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
Bahrain%20GP
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MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
The%20specs
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HAJJAN
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J%20Street%20Polling%20Results
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