After the Carabao, he can win the Premier League and the FA Cup in the final against Chelsea to end his experience in Manchester on a high note
All in 21 days. What could be Pep Guardiola’s grand finale at Manchester City is a three-week marathon, from the next match in the Premier League on Monday 4 May against Everton to the last round on Sunday 24 at home against Aston Villa. The marathon lasts six games, the five remaining to decide the championship sprint with Arsenal and the FA Cup final on Saturday 16 May with Chelsea at Wembley, won by the Blues yesterday with a 1-0 win over Leeds in the semi-final. Pep could finish with the Domestic Treble, the trio of English trophies which includes, in addition to the Carabao Cup already on the board, also the Premier League and the FA Cup (here’s our focus on the title race in England). It seems like the perfect gift to then say goodbye to Manchester and City. “What really defines great clubs is playing consistently to win – he said after taking City to the fourth FA Cup final in a row, the first team ever to do so – I like lifting trophies, but I’m proud of this continuity.”
strategy
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Six games in 21 days means practically no room to breathe. This is why Pep, with the next match in a week, wants his players to recharge their batteries. He left them free for three days with only two obligations: to return to the Etihad Campus on Wednesday afternoon and not think about football. “I learned in England that the more the players rest, the better they play – he explained with a smile – At first I made them train all the time, but now I send them home, I give them quality time. And they play better”. The mental aspect will be fundamental, because City are playing catch-up in the Premier League: Arsenal have regained the top spot after beating Newcastle and will travel with one more match between now and the eve of the final matchday. “We know that if we win we move forward and if we lose we’re out,” said Pep, who also worked on his fitness, because six games in 21 days also means not being able to always use the same starters, as he had done before the FA Cup semi-final. “We need everyone, that’s why I changed so much with Southampton,” he explained. “We need the whole team now: we’ll have to manage the substitutions, expect some players to improve their level. I’ll have to push them to give more and more.”
grand finale
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Guardiola has already completed the Domestic Treble with City in 2019 and in 2023 he added the Treble with the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. This sprint, however, has a different flavor: it is the perfect idea to say goodbye, putting City back on the throne of England lost after last season’s step backwards. “After what happened last year, we had a lot of questions about how some players would react, in different aspects – he recalled – Instead we found something special and now we are in the best conditions. We have to face one game at a time, there isn’t much to talk about with the players: they know perfectly well that we have to win, that we have to score as many goals as possible. There’s not much else to do now: play, recover, prepare as best we can for the next game. We have 5 league games left plus the Cup final: let’s try, let’s do it together. Then Let’s go on holiday and talk about it again next season.” The goal is too big for Pep’s mind to be on what awaits him next, on the possible farewell to Manchester and the suggestion of Italy. He is interested in winning, as he always did at City. And he wants to do everything to achieve it. Also winning six games in 21 days.
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