Pep Guardiola sends Champions League warning to Manchester City squad after Nottingham Forest defeat | OneFootball

Manchester City need a consistent winning run if they are to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League after losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest.

The Premier League champions suffered their ninth defeat of the league season as Callum Hudson-Odoi’s 83rd minute strike went through Ederson’s near post and sealed a monumental win for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in the race for Champions League qualification.

With Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Omar Marmoush all on the bench, Manchester City lacked creativity in midfield and only made a handful of clear-cut, goalscoring opportunities to trouble Matz Sels in the opposition net.

City could finish the game-week in fifth place should Chelsea beat Leicester on Sunday and the four-in-a-row Premier League champions are losing margin for error if they are to salvage what has been an uncharacteristically underwhelming season by finishing in the top four.

In the immediate aftermath of the narrow defeat in Nottingham on Saturday afternoon, Pep Guardiola addressed his side’s performance and gave an honest take on Manchester City’s pursuit of a top four finish.

“A tight game, we controlled transitions really well, created not a lot but they defended really well. In the first-half, we had chances to shoot but were not precise and at the end, one transition and we lost an easy ball, and they scored,” the City manager told broadcasters.

City are losing ground in the Champions League race and there remains very little margin for error in the last 10 games of the league season.

“We have 10 games to qualify for the Champions League we have to win games to qualify, and we’re going to the next one. We’re going to prepare the game (against Brighton). We have 10 finals. And the next one, we start,” Guardiola added.

A home fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion next awaits Manchester City and Pep Guardiola will be desperate for his side to return to winning ways against the Seagulls next Saturday afternoon.