Pep Guardiola concedes he does not know if Manchester City鈥檚 next Premier League challenge will be 鈥渄estroyed鈥 by their Club World Cup campaign or not.
England manager Thomas Tuchel recently said the involvement of City and Chelsea in this summer鈥檚 tournament in the United States would hand the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal a 鈥渉uge advantage鈥 in the title race.
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has also described the event as 鈥渢he worst idea ever implemented in football鈥 because of concerns over player welfare.
Guardiola, however, insists City 鈥 who face Al-Hilal in a last-16 tie in Orlando on Monday night (2am Tuesday UK) 鈥 are focused on rediscovering their best after a frustrating 2024-25 season and claiming the prize.
The City manager said: 鈥淚 try to relax, enjoy the days here and the good vibes that we have, the competition and we try to win it.
鈥淭he most important thing is to recover and find within ourselves what we were. That鈥檚 my main target in this tournament.
鈥淚 want them to feel that this is our path again to be competitive like we have been in eight of the last nine years.
鈥淎fter this, let鈥檚 see what happens. Let鈥檚 see what happens after the final. We will rest for the time the Premier League allow us.
鈥淢aybe in November, December or January it will be a disaster, we are exhausted and the World Cup has destroyed us.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, it鈥檚 the first time in our lives that this has happened. We will see when we come back.鈥
Guardiola says he can understand the viewpoint of his old rival Klopp, now head of global soccer for Red Bull, who had a team involved in the tournament in Salzburg.
Yet he suggested people complaining might be jealous.
Speaking at a press conference, Guardiola said: 鈥淚 fought a lot with Jurgen many, many times. I know where his idea comes from.
鈥淚 respect him, I would defend his argument as well. At the same time, as managers, we are in a job. We don鈥檛 organise the competitions.
鈥淥nce we are here, we are proud. Many, many teams complain about these competitions because they are not here, otherwise they might love being here.鈥
Weather problems have been a recurring issue in the tournament both in terms of intense heat and thunderstorms.
Chelsea鈥檚 last-16 victory over Benfica on Saturday was suspended for almost two hours due to lightning in the vicinity.
Guardiola said: 鈥淚 am an extraordinary manager but to control lightning and thunder, still I am not good enough!
鈥淚f it is (suspended) here the same reason as why they suspend the other one, I will go inside and we will continue to be active and play again.
鈥淚t is not the ideal situation but I grew up to understand not to be worried about the situations that I can鈥檛 control. So no problem.鈥