Pep Guardiola has claimed that he could face being sacked by Manchester City if the club don't beat Real Madrid in the Champions League. 

Despite dominating domestically since arriving in England, it's well-known that City's owners are desperate to land the European Cup, the one trophy that has always eluded them.

Arguably there's no better man than Guardiola to help them do that, but in three seasons so far, he's failed on the continental stage. 

The Spaniard has not yet been able to guide his club past the quarter-finals and ahead of a tough tie against Madrid, he's claimed failure could lead to the sack. 

"I want to win the Champions League," Guardiola told Sky Sports, per Marca.

"I'm dreaming of it and I'm excited about preparing for the game against Madrid for the next two weeks.

"This process and these two weeks before [the game] will be the happiest two weeks of my profession.

"If we don't beat them, then the chairman or sporting director will come and say, 'it's not good enough, we want the Champions League, I'm going to sack you.'" 

Of course, it's highly unlikely Man City will actually swing the axe should Guardiola fail to mastermind victory against Real Madrid. 

Five domestic trophies in three years have surely given Pep the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Europe. 

But another round of 16 exit would be very, very disappointing - no matter who it comes against.

City are amongst the favourites for this year's competition and you have to beat the big boys at some stage - so why not knock Los Blancos out early on. 

But with all the rumours that Juventus are planning to give Guardiola 'whatever it takes' to tempt him away from Man City, there's no doubt club chiefs in Turin will be very interested in this situation if it develops further.