Manchester City are set to end their season with four games to play in 12 days, with the Premier League title race still on, and manager Josep Guardiola has a difficult task ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final.
Josep Guardiola was honest about Manchester City’s preparations (Image: Haters TV)
Manager Josep Guardiola said Manchester City had not been able to train until their FA Cup final match against Chelsea due to their tight schedule. City head to Wembley on Saturday with a chance to win their second domestic trophy of the season between Premier League fixtures.
Guardiola’s side continued to put pressure on league leaders Arsenal by beating Crystal Palace 3-0 on Wednesday night. The match was the first of four matches to be played in 12 days, with the match against Palace rescheduled from earlier in the season due to City’s appearance in the Carabao Cup.
City are heavy favorites to add to the Carabao Cup, which they won against Arsenal at Wembley in late March against Callum McFarlane’s in-form Chelsea side. They will then face Bournemouth on Tuesday before finishing the season at home to Aston Villa next Sunday.
They are two points behind Arsenal, who are in pole position with games against Burnley and Palace ahead of them, but Guardiola is left with the task of getting his priorities right. Asked if the match against Bournemouth would influence Saturday’s selection, Guardiola quickly replied: “No, it’s the FA Cup final.”
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He added at Friday’s pre-match press conference: “It would be better if we had seven days like Chelsea did, but if we win the Carabao Cup and reach the final of the domestic trophy, we have to live with less.”
“We did it in the past when we won titles, and we don’t need to be reminded of that. It’s the schedule. That’s the way it is. Of course it’s not ideal, but it’s the way it is. We’ve done it in the past and we’ll have to do it tomorrow too. Big clubs try to do extra things when they’re in a more difficult situation than their opponents, and this is what we have to do. It’s simple.”
“We haven’t trained at all since the last game against Crystal Palace, so it’s not a perfect scenario to prepare for the final, but I’m relying a lot on what we have to do and we’ll try.”
Manchester City are in the FA Cup final for the fourth consecutive year, but have lost their last two games (Image: Getty)
Asked if he reflected on the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on January 4, Guardiola said: “We didn’t have time. We’ll do it on the train down (tomorrow). They played differently in each half. They were more passive in the first half and more aggressive in the second half. We had the momentum and in the end we equalized.”
“We have to read what they are going to do. I watched the last game against Liverpool because I like to see how the atmosphere and form of the team is. They struggled for the first 15 or 20 minutes, but that always happens at Anfield. Then they came back with an Enzo Fernandes goal. It was a good time.”
Despite having a busy schedule, City have the advantage of having a nearly complete squad, with Rodri the only injury doubt. Erling Haaland and Nico O’Reilly were among the players rested for the win over Palace and should be fresh for Wembley.
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