Pep Guardiola says he could be sacked as Manchester City manager if his side crash out of the Champions League to Real Madrid. City are braced to surrender their Premier League crown to Liverpool this season with the champions trailing the leaders by 22 points with 13 matches remaining. Guardiola’s side are still in contention to win the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season. But their disappointing league form has increased the pressure on Guardiola to deliver the Champions League - the one leading trophy that continues to elude City’s ambitious Arab owners - and the Catalan has claimed another failed European campaign could cost him his job. City face Real in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie at the Bernabeu on Feb. 26 with the return match on March 17. “That’s why it is so difficult to win it and in 100 and more seasons of history for Manchester City, it was 100 seasons of failure - that is not true,” the City manager told Football Daily. “There are many incredible players that made our fans happy, and times [when our] fans enjoyed part of the season. “I know the people say, ‘You are good’ or ‘You’re not good enough’. I accept it. I want to win the Champions League. I dream and will enjoy the games against Real Madrid, to see what I can do. “And this process, the two weeks before, will be the happiest moments of my profession, to imagine what we can do to beat them. “If we don’t beat them, then the chairman [Khaldoon al-Mubarak] will come, or the sporting director [Txiki Begiristain], and say, ‘It’s not good enough, we want the Champions League, I’m going to sack you’. Then, ‘OK, thank you, it was a pleasure.” Despite reports that there is a break clause in Guardiola’s deal that would allow him to leave City this summer, the manager has repeatedly insisted he will see out his contract, which runs until June 2021, and has dismissed talk of a move to Juventus. Mauricio Pochettino, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager, has been touted as a potential successor to Guardiola at City, as well as being heavily linked with the Manchester United job. But Guardiola is adamant that the only way he will depart City before next season is if he is sacked. City have struggled in the Champions League, their best finish coming in Manuel Pellegrini’s final season in charge, before Guardiola took over, when they lost to eventual winners Real Madrid in the semi-finals. They were eliminated by Monaco in the Round of 16 in Guardiola’s first season, lost in the quarter-finals to Liverpool the following year and last season also exited in the last eight after a 4-4 aggregate defeat on away goals to Tottenham. Guardiola has not won the competition since 2011, when he lifted the trophy for a second time with Barcelona. Victory over Aston Villa at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final on March 1 would see City claim the sixth of the past seven domestic trophies on offer and they could make that seven from nine if they retain the FA Cup, assuming the Premier League title heads to Liverpool. City face Championship outfit Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the FA Cup fifth round next month.