Pep Guardiola issues challenge to Manchester City stars

Pep Guardiola has called on his Manchester City players to show him they have the hunger to retain their Premier League crown. “The only thing we can do is put on pressure, respond and win,” said Guardiola. “Every game is the same - when you're on top you can drop points, but when behind, you cannot. “I don’t want to see excuses about tiredness, fixtures and schedules. When you have the illusion to fight until the end, the energy to give you that is higher than anything. “In the last two months, the mentality makes the difference. We have a good squad, a good second team, and I want to see the desire that we want to win the title. I don’t care about the way we play. I want to smell that we can win. “With one competition over, I want to see on their faces that they want to win the title and I hope that after I will be able to tell you I saw something special.” City will be without Fernandinho, Aymeric Laporte, John Stones and Gabriel Jesus. “John and Gabriel are still out, and now it’s Laporte and Fernandinho,” said Guardiola. “I don’t know how long. The next weeks they’ll be out, but hopefully after the international break for the other two. Fernandinho cannot play against Schalke, he's suspended, so we're going to take a risk and see after the international break.”

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