Josko Gvardiol sends “mentality” warning to trophy rivals after Manchester City win in Madrid | OneFootball

Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol has sent a warning to rival clubs over he and his teammates’ “mentality” in matches this campaign.

Gvardiol has been in sensational form for Manchester City this term, scoring in his side’s recent 3-0 Premier League win over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium and playing a key role in the monumental 2-1 UEFA Champions League victory away at Real Madrid on Wednesday evening.

The 23-year-old joined Manchester City from RB Leipzig in 2023 and has been one of Pep Guardiola’s best players in recent seasons, regularly playing out of position in his first two campaigns at the Etihad Stadium to fill a gaping void at left-back.

However, the emergence of Nico O’Reilly from the City Football Academy (CFA) and the £31 million signing of Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves this summer have allowed Gvardiol to operate in his preferred centre-back position alongside Ruben Dias regularly since August.

Gvardiol had a fine game in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid as City moved up to fourth place in the UEFA Champions League group-stage standings – two weeks on from suffering a shock 2-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking to reporters at the Santiago Bernabeu, Gvardiol said of Manchester City’s comeback win over Real Madrid: “There’s the mentality we have. It’s simple. If you are losing, it’s not game over, you know? You want to come back, you want to fight.

“One goal from a corner kick and a penalty from Erling (Haaland). I think we could have scored one more at least, but that’s football. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes not. At the end, 2-1 I think was more than enough.”

One player integral to the club’s success in the Spanish capital was Nico O’Reilly, who provided a crucial equalising goal in the first-half before being defensively astute to hold out and maintain Manchester City’s advantage throughout the second-half of action.

“I’m super proud of him, I’m really happy for him as well. He’s young, but to be honest with you, two days ago I was thinking that when I see him playing next to me, I feel like he’s 30,” Gvardiol added.

“I think he has a quality. There’s a reason he’s in the starting XI. He just needs to keep going. He has full support from me, from everyone in the team, from the manager, staff as well, from the club. He can do such big things in his career.”

Gvardiol has earned huge praise from Guardiola for his heroics and selfless contributions to the team last season, when the defender was a constant presence for a Manchester City side that recorded their worst Premier League finish under the Catalan with 71 points.

City travel to south London at the weekend as they bid for a fifth consecutive win in all competitions, having cut the gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal to two points last week after seeing off Sunderland at home in the backdrop of Arsenal’s injury-time defeat to Aston Villa.