Bayern Munich need to accept elimination from Champions League and focus on winning Bundesliga now, Pep Guardiola has said, adding that if people want to say he "failed" at Bayern they are entitled to do so.

On Tuesday, Pep Guardiola saw his treble hopes fade away in a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid, who went through to the Champions League final on away goals.

"Titles are just statistics," Guardiola said on Tuesday, adding: "Of course I wanted to win the Champions League with Bayern and I tried my best to do that -- I've given my life for this team."

In the aftermath of Bayern's Champions League exit, the question whether Guardiola's failure to win Europe's biggest club competition overshadowed his influence on Munich and German football in general was widely discussed in the national and international media.

Speaking at his prematch news conference ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga match at Ingolstadt, Guardiola added his thoughts to the ongoing discussion.

"If my work is judged on whether I win the Champions League or not, I have failed," the future Manchester City manager said. "I need to accept that. If people think I have failed, I have to accept that. If you think that I have failed, you have to write it."

In 2013, Pep Guardiola took over a Treble-winning side from Jupp Heynckes. And although his record of 80 wins, 11 draws and just nine defeats in 100 Bundesliga matches is the best ever by any coach in the German top flight, and although he has changed the way football is perceived in Germany along the way, some outlets have welcomed Guardiola's departure to Premier League.

The Catalan manager admitted that he always knew it would be hard to follow in Heynckes' footsteps.

"I was very happy here," he said. "When I came here after the Treble, I knew that I could not better Jupp's result. I knew that sooner or later we could lose."

Things have been brighter for Guardiola in the Bundesliga, where he can win his third straight title with Bayern Munich on Saturday.

The Bavarians go into the penultimate match day with a five-point lead over Borussia Dortmund and a superior goal difference by far. A win at Ingolstadt would secure the title, and a draw would mean that even should Bayern lose to relegated Hannover on the final day of the season then BVB would have to make up 11 goals in only two games.

"It's not easy," Guardiola added. "We had a lot of enthusiasm to reach the final. We did a good job in Champions League, but it wasn't enough to reach the final. We need to accept that. We need to go into the next match. We need a point, a win, to become German champions."

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by Stephan Uersfeld

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