Now it will get really tough - Guardiola
IT only gets tougher from here.
That’s the message Pep Guardiola had for his players as City take a breath before resuming their onslaught for an unprecedented Quadruple.
Saturday’s slog of a win over Everton at Goodison Park booked their place in the FA Cup semifinals, but the Blues were really made to work by a well-organised Carlo Ancelotti side with the deadlock only being broken in the final six minutes.
Guardiola expects similar difficulties from the Champions League quarter-final against Dortmund and Carabao Cup final against Tottenham next month, knockout matches where the margin for error is greatly reduced.
“I saw Everton warm up, I was sitting on the bench. I was five metres away and saw how they shouted every action, how they communicated, high five every time,” he said.
“They were ready, (so I realised) it will be a game like we expected to play. Intensity. We knew it.
“You have to handle this and this is the game we are going to play in the semi-final of the FA Cup, against Dortmund, the final against Tottenham. This is going to happen.
“If you cannot maintain that level, they bite you and you don’t win. It was important because now coming at the end of the season there will be more games like that than other ones.
“You have to learn and know exactly what you have to do. Today we didn’t make mistakes. This is the key point to go through in these kind of games.”
If that is not enough pressure, not only do City resume their Premier League campaign against Leicester - the team that beat them 5-2 earlier in the season - but Guardiola also believes they have the ‘worst’ possible opponents in Leeds to play between the two legs against Dortmund.
The Blues boss has consistently called his Leeds counterpart Marcelo Bielsa the best manager in the world, having spent time in Mexico during his playing career so he could understand more about the coach’s methods. City and the newly-promoted Leeds played out a 1-1 draw at Elland Road earlier in the season in a helter-skelter game.
There may be a healthy cushion for the Blues at the top of the Premier League, but that does not mean games in that competition can’t jeopardise their chances in the cups. “We are two months until the end of the season and every game is closer to winning titles but still there are many, many games,” said Guardiola. “Leicester: 2-5 at home, how strong they are. And after, Champions League. And after, Leeds. Leeds is the worst opponent we can play between the Champions League [legs]. The worst.
“We have 14 points and one game more so maybe it is 11. Still, we have to win four or five Premier League games and in knockout games everything can happen. This [Everton] game in one corner, one throw in, one situation where they scored a goal maybe we would have not been able to overcome.
“But the spirit and the commitment is fantastic, that’s why we achieved what we achieved. I will never forget what we achieved in these four months.”