Guardiola has City on wagon to keep those wheels turning

PEP GUARDIOLA placed an alcohol ban on his Carabao Cup winners after pointing out that domestic football’s second cup competition is hardly the Champions League.

The 1-0 victory over Tottenham landed the Manchester City manager his 25th senior trophy in football, but already his focus is on the 26th and 27th.

The Premier League title could be secured as early as this weekend, and tomorrow is the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

City’s fourth League Cup triumph in a row was put into context very quickly.

“Of course it’s nice – although I would like it to be four Champions

Leagues, but that is not possible,” Guardiola said. “This is a lesser competition and the fact we are there shows every game we play, we try to do well.

“We have to recover quickly – no alcohol to celebrate – and we have to rest for the game in Paris.”

Guardiola was blamed for overthinking his tactics last season when City crashed out to Lyon.

He faces a far tougher task against PSG, but he promised his side would be themselves.

“We must just try to be who we are,” said Guardiola. “The quality they have, it’s not just Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, it’s Angel Di Maria and Julian Draxler. “The quality of Leandro Paredes and MarcoVerratti – it’s almost impossible to control them.” Riyad Mahrez believes City are getting better at finding a way to win high-profile matches. Mahrez, left, said: “We knew it was going to be tough against Spurs. “Sometimes it takes more time than usual, but we stayed focused and scored.”