The world No 8 Ratchanok, along with the world No 4 mixed doubles team of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai, decided not to take part in the 11-nation team tournament, which is being played in Hong Kong from March 19-24.

Ratchanok, who was knocked out of the All England first round last week by China’s Chen Xioxin in three tough games, and the country’s top mixed doubles pair have opted to concentrate on the India Open (500), Malaysia Open (750) and Singapore Open (500), which all take place in the weeks following Hong Kong.

Thailand’s challenge will therefore be spearheaded by world No 21 Pornpawee Chochuwong, No 23 Nitchaon Jindapol and world No 68 Chananchida Jucharoen, plus the world No 10 women’s doubles pairing of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.

In the men’s draw, world No 17 Kantaphon Wangcharoen, No 18 Khosit Phetpradab andNo 33 Suppanyu Avihingsanon will carry Thai hopes, along with doubles players Tinn Isriyanet and Nipitphon Phuangphupet.

Thailand have been drawn in group C with Indonesia and Sri Lanka, while Taiwan, India and Singapore are in group B, China, Malaysia and Macau in group D and just Japan and hosts Hong Kong in group A.

They will compete in a round-robin format consisting of women’s singles, men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’ s doubles and mixed doubles. Only top two from each pool will proceed to the knockout stage.

While Thailand should have no problem with Sri Lanka, they are likely to have their work cut against Indonesia, who have reigning Thailand Master’s women’s singles champion Fritiani Fritiani and the women’s world No 12 doubles partnership of Della Destiara Haris and Rizki Amelia Pradipta.

“To be honest, I don’t enjoy losing,” Djokovic said after falling 6-4, 6-4 to 39th-ranked German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round.

Kohlschreiber notched his first ever victory over a number one-ranked player, ending Djokovic’s bid for a sixth Indian Wells crown.

“Especially in a tournament like this, a tournament where I have had plenty of success in the past …” Djokovic said. “But it just happens, one of those days.”

Djokovic, playing his first tournament since lifting his record seventh Australian Open title in January, knew he’d have to work his way back into top form.

He admitted he was nervous in the early going of his 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, win over US qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo in his second-round opener.

Nevertheless, he thought he was poised for a deeper run, something he’ll now try to achieve in doubles alongside Italian playing partner Fabio Fognini.

Shortly after falling to Kohlschreiber, Djokovic was headed out for doubles, teaming with Fognini for a 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 10/6 victory over Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau to reach the semi-finals.

“You just have to deal with it, move on, turn the next page,” Djokovic said. “Miami is the next tournament singles-wise for me.

“I’m going to try to go all the way here in doubles. I’m really excited about that.”

But he’ll also be putting in some solid singles practice.

“Things to work on, without a doubt,” Djokovic said. “I’m not at my highest level, but slowly building, and hopefully I’ll be able to peak in Miami.”

World number one Naomi Osaka crashed out of Indian Wells on Tuesday, routed by Belinda Bencic on a day that saw second-ranked Simona Halep sent packing, too.

Bencic, ranked 23rd in the world, defeated Osaka 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the prestigious WTA premier mandatory event, where Osaka won her first tour title last year.

That marked the start of a remarkable rise that included Osaka’s first Grand Slam title at the US Open. She followed that with an Australian Open crown that sent her to number one.

But she never found her feet against Bencic, whose crisp groundstrokes and precise service game propelled her to victory in 66 minutes.

“I didn’t play that well,” Osaka said. “Honestly, at a time like this with that scoreline, I would usually feel very depressed and sad. But I feel pretty good right now, because I tried my best and I don’t really have any regrets.

“She was just playing so well … there wasn’t anything that I could do in that situation.”

Bencic, who turned 22 on Sunday, is back on the rise after a string of injuries stalled a career that had exploded with two precocious WTA titles in 2015.

Bencic — who beat four top-10 players on the way to the title in Dubai last month, her first trophy in four years — next faces fifth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova, who downed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 6-2.

The victory over Osaka came in “very high” in her list of big wins.

“I mean, she’s the number one player in the world. She won everything in the past couple of months.

“I played, I think, a great match. I’m really happy with myself.

“I’m very confident with my game right now. I’m hitting the ball well. So just things worked out for me.”

Osaka’s defeat capped a black day for top seeds in the combined WTA-ATP Masters event, with men’s world number one Novak Djokovic stunned by 39th-ranked Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The women’s field lost its top two seeds as Romania’s Halep, the 2015 Indian Wells winner, fell to Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

– Osaka stays No. 1 –

Halep, who received treatment for blisters on her foot during the match, hit just six winners and piled up 36 unforced errors.

“I was running too much and too defensive,” she said. “But it’s everything I could do today.”

Her defeat means Osaka will retain her number one ranking, even though she couldn’t pull off her first title defense.

Vondrousova, who beat 2018 runner-up Daria Kasatkina and former French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko on the way to the fourth round, will go for another big win when she faces sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina, who battled to a 7-6 (10/8), 5-7, 6-4 victory over Australian Ashleigh Barty.

Former world number ones Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza made it into the quarter-finals.

Spain’s Muguruza, a two-time Grand Slam champion now ranked 20th in the world, out-lasted seventh-ranked Kiki Bertens 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 while Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, beat Germany’s Mona Barthel 6-4, 6-4.

Muguruza next faces 18-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu, who surprised China’s 18th-seeded Wang Qiang 7-5, 6-2.

Andreescu — who roared to her first WTA final as a qualifier in Auckland in January, beating two former world number ones on the way — is in the quarter-finals of one of the WTA’s elite premier mandatory events for the first time.

Andreescu improved her match record for 2019 to 25-3, including qualifying, as she became the youngest player to make the last eight at Indian Wells since a 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached the semis in 2009.

Williams will fight for a semi-final berth against eighth-seeded Angelique Kerber, who beat ninth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.

Manchester City powered into the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday as Sergio Aguero’s double paved the way for a 7-0 rout of hapless Schalke in the last 16 second leg.

City had snatched two late goals to win the first leg 3-2 and they made the most of that fightback with a ruthless demolition job at the Etihad Stadium to clinch a 10-2 aggregate victory.

Aguero’s penalty opened the scoring at and the Argentine forward netted again before Leroy Sane, who also contributed three assists, struck against his former club.

Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus all scored after the interval to complete City’s biggest home win in the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola’s side, who lifted the League Cup in February, remain on course for an unprecedented quadruple, sitting one point ahead of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League before this weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final at Swansea.

This emphatic victory was the joint-biggest ever Champions League knockout stage win but won’t linger long in the memory given Schalke’s total lack of resistence. However it could be a good omen as City beat Schalke en route to winning their only European trophy in the 1970 Cup Winners’ Cup.

Twice a Champions League winner as Barcelona boss, Guardiola claimed this week that City are “teenagers” in the competition compared to the more established European powers.

They have never won the Champions League, with their best performance a semi-final appearance in 2016 under Guardiola’s predecessor Manuel Pellegrini.

But City are one of the favourites to claim the trophy after Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain crashed out and, on this evidence, Guardiola’s players are up for the challenge of showing they are more mature than he believes.

It seems only winning Europe’s elite club prize can make City fans fall in the love with the tournament.

Once again they loudly jeered the Champions League anthem, this time in frustration at UEFA’s recent investigation into the club over allegations of financial misconduct.

Guardiola had claimed it would be a “dangerous situation” to underestimate Schalke, but the struggling Bundesliga team were never a realistic candidate to spring a surprise.

– Floodgates opened –

Sprinting onto Kyle Walker’s pass, Sterling crossed for Aguero to shoot against a post in the opening moments.

Guardiola’s men monopolised possession and their territorial dominance finally paid off in the 35th minute.

Ilkay Gundogan clipped a pass into the Schalke penalty area and Jeffrey Bruma bundled over Bernardo, with the spot-kick awarded after being checked by VAR.

Aguero stepped up to nonchalantly chip the penalty down the middle as Ralf Fahrmann dived the wrong way.

Aguero has now scored in four successive Champions League games for the first time.

That opened the floodgates as Aguero quickly put the result beyond doubt three minutes later.

Sterling was the provider as he raced onto Gundogan’s pass and pulled the ball back to Aguero, who squeezed his shot past Fahrmann from a tight angle for his 27th goal of the season.

An interminable VAR delay of several minutes while Sterling was confirmed as onside drew more boos from City fans.

But they were celebrating again in the 42nd minute.

This time it was Sane who ripped open the shambolic Schalke defence, the German winger sent clear on goal by Oleksandr Zinchenko before driving a clinical strike into the far corner.

City were streets ahead of Schalke in every phase of the game and Sterling maintained his sublime form with a cool finish from Sane’s majestic pass in the 56th minute.

Bernardo made it five in the 71st minute, netting with a first-time shot from Sane’s pass.

There was still time for Foden to bag his first Champions League goal as the young midfielder took Sane’s pass and slotted home in the 78th minute.

Jesus beat Fahrmann’s weak attempted save with six minutes left to complete City’s perfect evening.

The Portuguese struck either side of half-time to level the aggregate scores before crashing home the decisive penalty kick four minutes from the end.

Ronaldo was signed from Real Madrid in order to help Juve turn domestic dominance into European success and he pulled off his most important display for the Serie A club since arriving in pre-season with his team with their backs to the wall following their 2-0 defeat in Madrid last month.

The 34-year-old rose to head home Federico Bernardeschi’s 27th-minute cross to get the ball rolling before repeating the trick with Joao Cancelo’s swinging ball two minutes after the break to get the Allianz Stadium roaring with belief.

With the tie delicately poised he stepped up to score the winning goal of a pulsating tie from the spot after Bernardeschi was brought down by Angel Correa, keeping alive Juve’s hopes of a first Champions League title since 1996.

A total of 44 Asian nations are competing to take part in next January’s finals in Thailand, made up of 11 four-nation groups in 11 host countries.

Each of the group winners will make it through, as well as the four best runners-up.

Thailand, who are in the same group as Brunei and Indonesia and Group K hosts Vietnam, decided to take part in the qualifiers despite having an automatic berth into the 2020 finals as the host country. If Thailand also qualify on merit, the fifth best runner-up will also be given a place.

Brazilian coach Gama said he has selected the best of the Kingdom’s rising stars, including star striker Supachai Jaided plus key midfielders Supachoke Sarachat and Worachit Kanitsribampen.

“We’ve chosen only the best players based on their experience,” said the 51-year-old Gama, a former assistant coach of South Korea. “Many have a lot of experience, especially in international tournaments.

Gama has an impressive CV in Thailand, having led Buriram United to two Thai Premier League titles (in 2014 and 2015) as well as enjoying multiple other success with them and as coach of Chiang Rai United.

However, he accepted that he has had very limited time to work with his players –they only start training together on Monday, just 11 days ahead of their opening qualifier against Indonesia.

“Although we only have a few days to prepare the team, the players should already be fit as they have to train and to play in Thai League games. I believe in their potential,” said Gama.

Thailand will play Brunei on March 24 and Vietnam two days later. All games will take place at the My Dinh National Stadium and can be watched live on PPTV and Channel 36.

“Although we already have a spot in the finals, I’m still hungry for victory and I hope every player feels the same. No game is easy in this region these days. I want to test how the players will handle high-level games,” Gama added.

Jan-Lennard Struff, ranked 55th in the world, notched his first victory over Zverev in five tries, breaking him once in the first set and three times in the second for a 6-3, 6-1 victory.

“I’ve been sick for a week,” said the 21-year-old Zverev, who lost the Acapulco final to Australian Nick Kyrgios the week before Indian Wells began. “That hasn’t changed, unfortunately.

“I think I just got unlucky, I got a virus somewhere and that’s how it is.”

Zverev, the owner of three Masters 1000 titles who has never made it to the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, said he would now focus on recuperating and preparing for the Miami Masters, where he’ll be hoping to improve on his runner-up finish to John Isner last year.

“Now it’s about getting healthy and about recovering and preparing myself for Miami, because Miami is the tournament I do well in, history-wise,” he said. “Here I have always struggled.”

Despite the circumstances, Struff was delighted to get a first win over Zverev.

“Yeah, 6-3, 6-1, it’s amazing,” he said. “Played a good match. He was missing some shots today, but at the end of the day I’m very happy with that.”

Struff next faces 13th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic, who rallied from 4-1 down in the third set to beat US qualifier Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Giron, 25, looked set to claim the biggest win of a career that has been hindered by two hip operations when he took a 4-1 lead in the third set.

But Raonic, runner-up at Indian Wells in 2016, called on all of his experience to turn things around against the American, who had never won two ATP Tour matches in a row until this week.

“He came up with the goods and definitely pushed me sort of to the brink there where I was getting a little bit frustrated,” Raonic said.

“I just kept trying to plug away. There were two games that I had break chances to get back into the third, and I didn’t make it count. Luckily I made the last two count.

“I’m proud of the way I competed today. That’s what got me through,” said Raonic, who fell to Struff in the first round at Dubai last month.

– Djokovic on hold –

World number one Novak Djokovic, playing his first tournament since grabbing a record seventh Australian Open title in January, completed just one game against unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber before rain swept across the California desert.

The duo were sent to the locker room and with no break in the weather in sight organizers suspended play for the night, with the match to resume on Tuesday.

The winner will face in-form Frenchman Gael Monfils, who rolled past Albert Ramos Vinolas 6-0, 6-3.

Monfils won his eighth career title at Rotterdam in February, followed up that performance with a run to the semi-finals in Dubai.

In other early matches, 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic defeated India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).

The Croatian veteran will face Austrian seventh seed Dominic Thiem, who beat France’s Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1.

Lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia continued to make the most of his unexpected opportunity, beating fellow Serbian Laslo Djere, the 30th seed, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).

The 19-year-old will take on Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, who rallied from a set down to beat 18-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/5).

Plans to hold a future MotoGP™ event in Indonesia were recently announced, with a circuit to be built as part of incredible new tourism development the “Mandalika” in Lombok. Following the Qatar GP, an official reception was held for MotoGP™ in Indonesian capital city Jakarta in order to further examine the project.

At the reception, Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta met the President, Joko Widodo, as well as Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) President Director, Abdulbar M Mansoer, at Bogor Palace in West Java to celebrate the new partnership between MotoGP™ and Indonesia. President Widodo confirmed his country’s readiness to host the Indonesian GP, with the nation one of the most committed and enthusiastic markets for the sport in the world.

Sporting Director Carlos Ezpeleta and Indonesian Moto2™ World Championship rider Dimas Ekky Pratama were also present at the event, with attendees getting a glimpse of a incredible plans of the venue that’s to be built as part of the spectacular new “Mandalika”.

Excitement for the inclusion of the Indonesian GP on the future MotoGP™ calendar only continues to build, with this official reception consolidating the project in another important step towards making the dream a reality.

Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) President Director, Abdulbar M Mansoer: “I want to thank Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta for coming here and meeting with our president, and directly stating to the president that we are going to have a MotoGP in 2021. In return, our president extends his credit that Mandalika will host MotoGP and, most importantly, the last statement the president said to Mr Carmelo is that the country will support this; the infrastructure will be supported. We, as a state owned company, own the land and are building the infrastructure, but around the area there will be support for the airport, a longer runway, and also a terminal for ferries, high speed boats, that will bring people from Bali to Lombok. Bali is our most visited destination and it’s only half an hour by plane, 2 hours by speedboat. We will rely on Bali for the supply of rooms and hotels, so from day 1 we don’t have to build tens of hotels, we will use part of Bali. That was promised by our president.

“MotoGP will bring a lot of benefit to the area. Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and I’ve heard Vietnam will have F1, so now Indonesia – as the biggest country in southeast Asia, the biggest economy – will finally have one, so this will bring a lot of attention to the area. Lombok has just been hit by earthquakes, so this will be important in the turn around and recovery of lombock and will benefit everyone in Lombock and also in Indonesia because we’ll have our own world class circuit.

“When we signed on January 28th, we didn’t expect such positive outlook and comments. Everybody’s saying ‘finally! We will save our money because we want to see this in two years!’ There’s a large population of youth here, we have a bonus demographic. This is a good place to build the fanbase of Mandalika, and everyone is telling me they can’t wait. MotoGP is the most exciting motorsport in the opinion of Indonesia because they have the biggest fanbase. There’s over 100 million motorcycles around Indonesia and the races are so exciting.”

Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna CEO: “As we announced last Saturday with the ITDC in Qatar, there has been an agreement to host an Indonesia Grand Prix in Lombok, Mandelika, for 2021. We thought that it was important to be here to present that to the president and the minister of sport. We’ve had a meeting with them. They’re committed to do things as best they can. We talked about the project, about the facilities and, for us, it’s very important that MotoGP is received in a country like Indonesia, which is one of the most important countries following MotoGP and the industry of motorcycles. It’s an important step today to start a new era of MotoGP.

“Asia is the most important region for the motorcycle industry in the world and, of course, Indonesia, with their big population and their interest in motorsport, this is very important.

“After the success of Malaysia and then Thailand, we think that this area, for the population, for the interest in motorcycles, is very important. For us it’s always important to do it in a safe way and and in a very nice place. In this project we fulfil both things. On one side we serve a new area for tourism and economic impact, on the other we will make an absolutely safe circuit in a very nice place. The circuit is a proper, permanent circuit.”

Dimas Ekky Pratama, rider: “It will be amazing for me and for the Indonesian fans because, in Indonesia it’s crazy, a lot of people like MotoGP and Lombok is my mother island, so it’s nice if I can race there in MotoGP.

“Many Indonesian people come to see me, they bring the Indonesian flags, posters of me and there’s a crazy amount of support. If we have the Indonesian GP in Lombok, for sure many people will come to support the GP. It will be amazing. I can’t wait. When I race in Sepang, it feels like home because many Indonesian people come there. When we race in Lombok, my family, friends and supporters will definitely come and it will be even more like home.”

The 23-year-old Poom, who enjoyed a joint runner-up finish at the Palm Resort Golf and Country Club last week, is looking to ride on his fine form as he continues to chase for a breakthrough at the RM225,000 (approximately US$54,000) event, which will be held on the same venue this week.

Since joining the play-for-pay ranks in January 2018, Poom has endured several near-misses for his maiden title on the region’s secondary circuit. He came agonisingly close to winning in Indonesia last August where he was locked in an epic play-off duel against reigning ADT Order of Merit champion Miguel Carballo of Argentina.

He went the distance with Carballo and was eventually defeated on the seventh play-off hole in the event, which would go down the record books as the longest play-off on the ADT since the circuit was inaugurated in 2010.

Poom, however, went on to notch three other top-10s to finish in 15th place on the 2018 ADT Order of Merit and secure his 2019 Asian Tour card in his second attempt at the Qualifying School, where he came in fifth following a gruelling 90-hole battle.

Despite failing to capitalise on his overnight four-shot lead heading into the final round last week, Poom was quick to take the positives and is confident that the experience will help him rise to the occasion in time to come.

“I played well all of last week but just didn’t get the putter going on the final day. I have learned a lot from those near-misses. I just need to focus on my own game now instead of what others are doing,” said Poom.

“I started working with my coach Annop Tangkamolprasert last August and we have seen significant improvements in my game right after fixing my swing. Annop used to play regularly on the ADT and I see him as often as I can when he is in Thailand, since he is currently based in Vietnam,” Poom added.

Poom will feature in the 144-men field alongside compatriot Itthipat Buranatanyarat, the highest-ranked player in second place on the current money list, as well as Merit champions Carballo and Pannakorn Uthaipas, who is chasing for back-to-back victories after lifting his second ADT victory last week.

Asian Tour winners Ben Leong, Nicholas Fung and Danny Chia will spearhead the local charge in the event, which will mark the fourth leg of the ADT schedule this season.

The leading seven players on the final ADT Order of Merit will earn playing rights on the premier Asian Tour for the 2020 season.

All ADT events offer Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. The winner will receive a minimum of six OWGR points while the top six players and ties will also earn points based on a sliding scale.

A 10-point gap between the north London rivals has been whittled down to one in the space of four games courtesy of defeats for Spurs against Burnley, Chelsea and Southampton.

With eight games of the campaign to go, the fight for automatic Champions League qualification next season looks set to go down to the wire, with Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea in desperate need of the revenue and prestige that brings for their own reasons.

Only four points separate Tottenham in third and Chelsea in sixth, but the Blues also have a game in hand at home to Brighton, where victory would allow them to move level on points with Arsenal in fourth.

A first domestic defeat for caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday has interrupted United’s momentum but they remain the form side of the chasing pack since the Norwegian took charge in mid-December — cutting the gap to the top four from 11 points down to two.

– Spurs running out of steam? –

Tottenham defied World Cup fatigue, injuries to key players and coped with no new signings and a second season in their temporary home at Wembley for so long that just two weeks ago they were still being touted for an unlikely title challenge.

Despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, however, it appears the effects of a long season for a small squad may finally be starting to take hold as after dominating the first 45 minutes against struggling Southampton on Saturday, Spurs imploded after the break to manager Mauricio Pochettino’s ire.

“In the first half we played like the quarter-finals, or the best eight teams in Europe, but in the second half we need to watch the game, analyse, and be critical of ourselves,” said the Argentine, hinting he needs to be backed with funds to improve his squad in the summer, should he remain in charge.

“Maybe we need to understand that it is our limit to be there (fighting for top four). If it is our limit we need to take some decisions in the future.”

Yet, with the club’s new stadium finally ready, at a reported cost of £1 billion ($1.3 billion), the level of investment in the squad will be highly dependent on securing Champions League cash.

Pochettino’s men do have the slight relief of a three-week break now to regroup, but their next league game is a daunting one away to Liverpool and they also travel to title-chasing Manchester City next month.

– Sarri’s job on the line –

Arsenal have felt the brunt of losing Champions League revenue for the past two seasons after 17 consecutive years in Europe’s premier club competition and Unai Emery’s admission in the January transfer window that the Gunners could not afford permanent signings highlighted the importance of not missing out three years in a row.

For Chelsea and United, the outcome of the top-four race could determine who is in charge next season.

Maurizio Sarri has endured a stormy first campaign at Stamford Bridge and Champions League qualification either through the league or by winning the Europa League is seen as the minimum required for the Italian to be handed a second season.

Solskjaer is expected to be given the United job on a permanent basis thanks to his incredible record since taking caretaker charge, particularly after eliminating Paris Saint-Germain to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.

However, a failure to round off his run so far with a top-four finish may give the club’s hierarchy a difficult decision to make, especially if Pochettino can be lured from Tottenham.

City host Bundesliga strugglers Schalke on Tuesday with a 3-2 first leg lead in their last 16 tie hoping to avoid the pitfalls that did for Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in Champions League shocks last week.

Guardiola admitted even he was taken aback by Manchester United’s stunning 3-1 win in Paris and holders Madrid’s capitulation to a talented young Ajax team, but refuted suggestions their elimination had cleared the way for City to finally conquer Europe.

“We are teenagers in this competition that’s my feeling. It’s not excuses, of course we want to win it,” said the Catalan coach on Monday.

“You have to dream and point as high as possible but in the same time you have to accept there are other teams thinking the same with a lot of quality and lot of talent.”

Guardiola was annoyed by City’s mistakes in conceding two penalties and having Nicolas Otamendi sent off 22 minutes from time in Gelsenkirchen three weeks ago despite turning around a 2-1 deficit with 10 men through late goals from Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling.

And he used that experience to warn his players against any complacency.

“In domestic competition there is another game, in this competition there is not another game. It is something unique, the focus is incredible and when you make something wrong they (the opponent) punish it,” he added.

“Schalke had two shots on target and scored two goals. We played 23 minutes 10 v 11 when we could avoid that second yellow card from Nico.

“We are lucky today we are here 3-2 up when we could be 3-1 or 4-1 down. That’s the reality in this competition. (There is) work to do, be calm and focused.”

– Gundogan future unclear –

Along with the suspended Otamendi, Fernandinho will again miss out through injury, but the Brazilian’s absence has not been felt as badly as first feared due to Ilkay Gundogan’s form.

The German has deputised ably in the holding midfield role, but has so far refused to commit his future to City beyond his current contract, which expires in 2020.

“There is no decision yet otherwise I would have signed or rejected a contract. I would say we are still in talks,” said Gundogan.

“I’m 28 years old now so obviously my next contract will decide where I am for maybe the end of my career.

“Everyone feels different, (whether) to go for a new challenge or change something. I am always open-minded for challenges, it is not (an) obvious (decision).

“Everyone has to make their own decision and at the moment I try to play as good as possible.”

Guardiola, though, urged Gundogan to make his intentions clear.

“I would prefer him to stay but at the same time I want to feel he wants to stay too,” said Guardiola.

“If he doesn’t want to stay, he has to leave.”

Schalke sit 14th in the Bundesliga after a dismal domestic season, but their under-fire manager Domenico Tedesco insists a shock win over City isn’t out of the question.

“The situation in the league is precarious but nevertheless we are going to try with all our effort tomorrow,” he said.

“We showed in the first leg we are capable of competing with City. We need to play better than we did in the first leg but we want to take that chance.”

Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga last season but their form this term has put Tedesco’s future in doubt.

Rather than focus on his battle to avoid the sack, Tedesco urged his players to cause a memorable upset against City.

“We have to use the small chance we’ve got as clear outsiders. We need a special day and hopefully we will have that,” he added.