‘SCORING MORE IS BEST WAY TO RESPECT OPPONENT’
Guardiola told City stars not to let up in Burton mauling
PEP Guardiola demanded Manchester City not go easy on Burton Albion at half-time on Wednesday night before bludgeoning nine past them.
Guardiola admitted they have already secured a spot in next month’s Carabao Cup final after securing his joint-highest victory as a manager in the first leg.
City were already four goals clear at the break and Guardiola pleaded with his players to crush the League One side.
“We are in the final,” Guardiola said. “We spoke about keeping it simple at half-time. Scoring more is the best way to respect the competition and the opponent.
“If you ease off you don’t have respect. The best way is to do what we did. Of course we have to take the second game seriously. You cannot be ‘oh, it’s Burton’ and we did not — that is why I’m pleased.
“If you are 4-0 up and forget to continue, you don’t have respect for the competition or your opponent.
“I am off for a glass of wine with Nigel Clough, I know how important his father was for English football, he was a genius. It will be a pleasure to share some minutes with him.”
Clough added: “I hope he’s got more than a glass.”
It was City’s biggest win since beating Huddersfield 10-1 back in 1987 and Guardiola plans to head to the Pirelli Stadium for the second leg on Jan 23 with a second string.
The Catalan defended his decision not to start Phil Foden, claiming David Silva was in need of minutes after injury.
Foden will lead a young team away at Burton and Guardiola spent some time after the final whistle talking to Clough’s players.
Guardiola added: “I wanted to congratulate them for an incredible tournament. They beat mythical teams.
“We’re not a team who has a lot of titles in our museum so you have to take these chances to get to the final. You have to take it in the first leg.
“We wanted to travel to Burton with the biggest advantage possible. We’re going to play a lot from the second team and those who don’t get many minutes. We have a bit of a break now that week to prepare for other competitions.”
Clough was pragmatic, revealing he thought the scoreline could have been worse for Burton.
“They’re professional — they never ease off,” he said. “They don’t just beat you, they annihilate you.
“I don’t think we could’ve done too much more with the quality that is out there. We could do better with one or two but the gulf of the two teams is far too much to comprehend.
“We’re talking about United, Arsenal and Chelsea bridging the gap... we’ve got no chance. We’ll celebrate, it’s not about tonight: it’s about Burton Albion getting to the semi-final.
“We’ll probably never be here again and that is how big this achievement is. A lot of clubs have never reached one.”