Manchester City’s Champions League exit has sparked criticism from former City midfielder Yaya Toure who questioned whether Pep Guardiola should be sacked as manager.
Toure believes if Guardiola had missed out consistently in European competitions at other clubs he would have been sacked at this stage.
City's wait for a first Champions League goes on after they were beaten 3-1 by Lyon in the quarter-final last Saturday.
Despite lifting four Premier League trophies since 2012 the club has never equalled nor bettered their one and only semi-final appearance under Manuel Pellegrini in 2016 with Guardiola chasing his first Champions League since 2011.
“If this was Barcelona or maybe Real Madrid, for sure he’s going to be in trouble. It’s down to the board and what they’re going to decide to do with him," Toure told the Daily Mail.
“For me, he’s up there in the class of Jurgen Klopp and Zinedine Zidane but it’s up to the club. They can have whatever manager they want because everybody knows they have got the money to do it.
Criticism has also fallen to Guardiola in his decision to deploy a 3-5-2 formation to match against their French opponents who finished seventh in Ligue 1 last season.
“People are finding a way to say he came just for the league. You cannot lie about that because the budget the club have been giving to him year after year, he needs to have the Champions League.”
Toure played over 300 times for City after joining from Barcelona in 2010 and helped them end their 44-year wait for a top-flight title.
“That’s the game,” the 37-year-old said. “Some important people in the club were calling me, saying I have to play; I have to deliver; we need to win the trophies; we have to do this.
“It was hard, week in week out when you’re playing with this pressure on your mind.”
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