Quadruple will never happen, insists Guardiola

Pep Guardiola dismissed Manchester City’s hopes of winning the quadruple, after edging into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.

While optimism is building over a clean sweep of the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup, Guardiola insisted it is “not going to happen”.

His runaway league leaders are still unbeaten in England this season,

with their last domestic defeat in April’s FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, and they extended their run to 27 games by beating Leicester on penalties.

Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was the unlikely hero, saving from Riyad Mahrez after Jamie Vardy had missed from the spot, and City could secure their first trophy in the EFL Cup in February.

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak claimed in May that the club could win all four trophies but Guardiola was emphatic.

“That isn’t going to happen, of course not,” he said. “That is not real. That is not normal.

“In football you lose games, you drop points. I am not thinking about how many titles. I am thinking about recovery and the next game. In the process you enjoy the moments. There is no sense waiting.

“I am so happy. Of course we want to go through. We cannot play four competitions with the same players so we made changes.”

Guardiola was at the forefront of wild celebrations in front of the

travelling fans after the shoot-out.

He was clearly frustrated during the game with referee Bobby Madley, who awarded Leicester a penalty in added time and also booked Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan for simulation.

Guardiola produced a diving gesture to fourth official Stuart Attwell at full time of normal time, a response to Demarai Gray’s involvement in the penalty decision.

But he refused to condemn the officials after the game and focused on his young players, including

debutants Lukas Nmecha and Tom Dele-bashiru.

“Penalty or no penalty, what is important was how we reacted,” he said. “We could go down because it is the last minute, especially with a lot of young players, but from first minute of extra-time we tried to win.

“We had two solutions, complaining or say, OK, we face that situation and move forward. We went forward again. For the young guys it will be a real good experience for the future. This is a great signal for the group and for the academy.”

Claude Puel, the Leicester manager, defended his decision to make seven changes to his starting XI, with Vardy and Mahrez starting on the bench. Leicester’s owners have prioritised a Wembley final this season but Puel, a finalist last season

with Southampton, picked a weakened team ahead of Saturday’s visit of Manchester United.

“I have no regrets about this, we deserved another goal and we had the most chances,” he said.

“It was a fantastic game until the end but the penalties were not for us. The players gave their best and it was encouraging for the future. We have to keep this level of performance.

“It was important to give a good response after the last league game. I like our positive outlook.”