Pep facing ‘fight for survival’ in league to be in with shot at cups
PEP Guardiola is hoping his City players can ‘survive’ their remaining Premier League games in order to give them the best chance of winning their knockout competitions.
The Blues started back again with just Claudio Bravo and John Stones sidelined, but Sergio Aguero, Phil Foden, and Joao Cancelo were all added to that list by the end of their second match of the restart.
Guardiola can take no satisfaction in correctly predicting that there would be injuries in the circumstances as he instead focuses on the FA Cup and Champions League.
Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions with seven games still to play, and while qualification for next season’s Champions League still needs to be secured – providing the club is successful in its appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport – they would have to blow a 14-point lead over fifth spot to finish outside of the top four.
With confirmation that the league is beyond them, Guardiola is focusing City minds on the fixtures where they have trophies still to play for.
“We knew it – lack of preparation and this amount of games in a short time we have to survive. Survive and try to qualify for the Champions League.
“Right now the FA Cup is a priority because the next game we can get to Wembley again in a semi-final. Newcastle have weapons to punish us but the most important thing is this game. After we have time to finish the Premier League as best as possible.”