Manchester City, nicknamed "The Citizens," will host Bayer Leverkusen from the Bundesliga at the Etihad Stadium in the fifth round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated in a press conference that he enjoys challenging strong competitors with his team in the Champions League.

Manchester City defeated Borussia Dortmund 4-1 in the last round of the Champions League, thanks to a brace from Foden, as well as goals from Haaland and Rajan Scherki. Manchester City currently sits in 4th place in the Champions League standings with 10 points, while Bayer Leverkusen is in 21st place with 5 points.

It's worth noting that this will also be Guardiola's 100th appearance leading Manchester City in the Champions League. Guardiola commented, "I'm getting older, but every week is a new milestone, which means we're in this competition every season. It's a huge competition, the players and coaches love it, and we really enjoy competing against the best teams in Europe."

"Actually, we've experienced more disappointing moments than good ones, but there have also been many great moments in the past group stage. In the quarterfinals or semifinals, it was just a matter of the last few minutes, and there were also those calls that we couldn't control, which could have eliminated us."

Guardiola said, "These moments shape the club and the team. It's not always perfect. These experiences are part of us, and they're exactly what we need."

In addition, Manchester City lost 1-2 to Newcastle in an earlier Premier League match.

Guardiola said, "We've moved on from that game, but I still think about some of what happened. It's very important to stay consistent at this stage of the game, and we've played very well in the first four games, even the away game against Monaco was great."

"We are about to start our final four matches, two at home and two away, and tomorrow's opponent is Bayer Leverkusen, who are currently third in the Bundesliga standings. This is an extremely important match, as it will determine whether we can finish in the top eight."

Guardiola also emphasized, "If we win tomorrow and get another point, we will advance to the next round among the 24 participating teams, so we will focus on what we must do."