“I don’t see weakness in this team” – Antonio Conte names favorites to win Champions League
Antonio Conte has backed Manchester City to win the UEFA Champions League this season. The Tottenham Hotspur manager believes there are no weaknesses in Pep Guardiola's side.
Manchester City are yet to win the Champions League in their history. Guardiola's main task when he became manager in 2016 was to get his hands on the European trophy, but he has not managed to secure it in five seasons with the club so far.
Pep Guardiola feels Man City can "do better" despite beating Sporting Lisbon 5-0 in the Champions League 😳
https://t.co/3v0rEcqnwM
However, Conte believes the wait is coming to an end as the Cityzens are favorites for the title this season. While speaking with beIN Sport, the Tottenham manager praised Guardiola and said:
"I think that we are talking about the best coach in the world because he shows it in many teams, many different situations, that it is good to build something important and if the club supports him because when you stay in Barcelona and Bayern Munich and then Manchester City, these clubs wanted to invest in him and he repaid this trust.
I repeat when you see a team of Pep Guardiola you can see an idea of football and you understand that there is a lot of work into the team and this work is his idea and for this reason it's for me in this moment is the best coach in the world.
The Spurs coach added that City were favorites to win the Premier League as well as the Champions League this season.
Manchester City in my opinion is the favourite to win the league this season and also is one of the favourites for the Champions League because we are talking about a team who are very very strong in every aspect – the squad and I don't see weakness in this team."
Pep Guardiola on Antonio Conte labelling him 'the best coach in the world': "Thank you so much, I am not. I appreciate it..." [via @_joebray]
Manchester City need to focus on Premier League before Champions League
Manchester City are nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table right now and are heading for their fourth league title under Guardiola. This weekend, they face Tottenham – one of the only two sides to beat them in the league this season. The London outfit beat City 1-0 in their first game of the season back in August.
managers who do not play to come second! 
in #MCITOT?Pep Guardiola & Antonio Conte - 2⃣ managers who do not play to come second! 😍
Who will come out on 🔝 in #MCITOT?
#ManCity #Spurs #PL https://t.co/QazPwEsxRV
Conte was looking forward to the game but acknowledged that it would not be easy.
"For sure it will be a tough game for us - but at the same time we want to try to play and we want to try to use this game also to have a step for improvement."
Tottenham also need a win this weekend to still have a chance of finishing in the top four. Three back-to-back defeats have left Conte's side eighth in the league table, seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester United. Spurs, however, have played three fewer games than the Red Devils.