Pep Guardiola has received plenty of criticism for failing to win the Champions League with Bayern Munich and Manchester City over the past 12 years.
However, the 52-year-old has compared the situation to golfing legend Jack Nicklaus and his hero Michael Jordan.
He pointed out that the pair have suffered more losses than wins over their illustrious careers.
Guardiola is an avid golfer and compared his side to Nicklaus, who won 18 majors. The American golfer finished as runner-up 19 times.
He made the comparison at a pre-match press conference ahead of City’s Champions League clash with Bayern tomorrow.
“My ambitions – I don’t know your ambitions or the ambitions of everyone around the world to be perfect everywhere, so my ambitions are below,” Guardiola said (via Independent).
“I like to be in the Premier League where we are – I like to be in the FA Cup and in the semi-finals and being here again. That is my dream, to live it again. To be here in front of you in a Champions League competition.
“Yesterday, it was the Masters. How many Masters has Jack Nicklaus played or majors has he played in his career?
“In 30 or 40 years as a golfer of four majors? How many wins out of 130? Eighteen wins out of 130. Wow. He loses more than he wins. That is sport.
“In football, in golf, in basketball, Michael Jordan the best athlete for me in basketball, won six NBA titles out of 16 years. He loses more than he wins.”
The former Barcelona manager reiterated that what was important was keeping the club’s performance at a high level.
This enables them to consistently compete for the Champions League title.
They want to keep playing at this difficult level and keep giving themselves in with a shot at European glory.
Guardiola also addressed the notion that he overthinks things in the Champions League.
Many people have accused the former Barcelona holding midfielder of tinkering with his team’s set-up ahead of crucial European ties.
He addressed the talks by saying that the same detractors would call him a genius if those plans worked.
City face Bayern at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg of their quarter-final tie tomorrow.
