Former City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne makes his return to the Etihad this week as Napoli face Guardiola’s side for the first time since the 2017/18 group stage when the Citizens won both matches by an aggregate score of 6-3.
Guardiola looking forward to De Bruyne reunion
Guardiola first spoke on the Belgian midfielder and admits he is looking forward to seeing him again.
“(I am looking forward to seeing him) after the game.
"Of course it's nice to have him back. The players in that level (Serie A) adapt so quickly and they don't need that much time to adapt."
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Donnarumma will be crucial for years to come
He then praised summer signing Gianluigi Donnarumma who kept a clean sheet in the Manchester derby at the weekend and is likely to start against Napoli this week.
"I would always say in the last decade we have had incredible goalkeepers. Gigi, at his age, just 26 years old he can play for us for many years and he is a top-class keeper."
City are not contenders?
Questions next turned to on whether City are contenders for the Champions League and Guardiola joked that the media do not believe his side have the quality to go all the way.
"Apparently we are not (contenders).
"Just enjoy the moment, we are happy to be here after the path we have been (on) so we are just focusing on tomorrow and the game we have to play and starting well in this competition.
"We have more games than the previous seasons but if you start with a bad result it can be difficult. Last season we drew the first game against Inter (Milan) and hopefully we can do better."
Premier League or Champions League?
The Spanish head coach was also asked whether the Champions League or Premier League is City's focus this season and he stated that he is taking one game at a time.
"(My) priority is the next game and it always has been since I arrived here. We do not choose the next game and in ten days we go to Huddersfield and then that will be the most important one. We take every game seriously."
Haaland is becoming a leader at City
Finally, he opened up on Erling Haaland's leadership within the City dressing room and how he is growing into an important figure in the side as he slowly matures as a player.
"It is a question of time as normal. In the first season he came into a team that was winning a lot - except in the Champions League - and he helped to bring that incredible trophy for us.
"Last season we finished the last 15 to 20 games as the best team in the Premier League and were able to qualify, but as always it is tough and of course it is a question of maturity over time, he is a little bit older even though he is still young.
"He signed a contract for many years to be here and he is a figure in the locker room so it happened in the natural way."