United can wreck our title party
VINCENT KOMPANY has warned Manchester City that their neighbours will be hell-bent on delaying their Premier League title party.
The perfect scenario for City fans is to see Pep Guardiola’s runaway leaders wrap up their third championship in seven seasons by beating Manchester United in the derby at the Etihad Stadium on April 7.
Providing City beat Everton at Goodison Park on March 31, a win over United the following weekend would give them 87 points and mean that, even with six games left, they could not be caught – the maximum their nearest rivals could achieve in that scenario would be 86, providing they won all their other games.
But Kompany delivered a sharp reality check by saying Jose Mourinho’s team will be desperate to avoid having to witness at first hand the title celebrations – and it could prove to be City’s toughest game of the season.
Kompany said: “I’m very specific in saying it’s not going to be handed to us. If anything, that will be a harder achievement than anything else this season.
“I cannot think of a team as big and with as much quality as, first of all Everton, and then United, just letting us have a perfect moment.
“Usually you want to spoil it with everything you’ve got. I know that’s what I’d be feeling if I was on the other side.
“It would be the perfect scenario but let’s put everything straight first: we just want to win the title. Everything else is a bonus, a cherry on the cake. But it doesn’t stand or fall by this one game. It’s unfortunate – well, not unfortunate – it’s just one thing that we know a lot of the fans will want. Whether we are able to deliver it is a completely different discussion. We need to be steady.”
The one big concern for City is that they do not play again for nearly three weeks because they have no game this weekend – scheduled opponents Brighton are playing United at Old Trafford in their FA Cup quarter-final – before the two-week international break.
Straight after David Silva’s double at Stoke on Monday evening took them a step closer to the title, City flew off to a warmweather training camp in Abu Dhabi where they will meet the club’s owner, Sheikh Mansour, and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak. But Kompany insists the trip should not signal that they might ease their foot off the pedal.
“It is not a holiday – the manager said we’ve still got stuff to work on,” he said. “It’s a great thing because it gives the lads the chance to clear everything, mentally and physically, and come back to be prepared to go for the last push.
“But just having the sun feels like a holiday. It’s not going to be, but you understand what I mean: just a little bit of sun will do for us.
“It will probably rain when we’re there. But we’ll use the 14 days to get ready mentally to keep the level up, like we’ve done every single game.”