OMNISPORT

Pep Guardiola says his first target is to 'wow' Manchester City's supporters as he attempts to lead the club to their first Champions League trophy.

City's European campaign begins in Romania on Tuesday when they face Steaua Bucharest in the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie.

Guardiola, 45, has won the competition three times – once as a player and twice as a head coach – and will stress the importance and beauty of the tournament to his players in advance of kick-off.

Winning the trophy is the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach's ultimate aim, but first he wants to see his players impress the City fans.

"We are going to try and score goals and try to convince the players how important it is to play in the Champions League and how beautiful it is," the City manager said at his pre-match media conference.

"We are going to try and win it. It all depends on the quality of the players. The first target is to try to play good for us and for our people, our fans. I would like them to go to the stadium and for them to think 'wow, I like how they play'.

"I am very optimistic we can play the football I want. At the end, the pitch is the pitch and everything is level. It depends on our game. Every coach and every manager has his own ideas. 

"I have one that I believe in a lot and I try every training session and every game to convince these guys that this is the best way to win the game."

Guardiola highlighted the importance of hitting the back of the net against a Steaua team he has studied hard since they defeated Sparta Prague over two legs to reach this stage.

"I have seen a lot of Steaua games and am very impressed with what they do," he said.

"We are going to try to score goals as scoring goals away from home is important in the Champions League."