Pep: ‘Outsiders’ City have yet to earn their place among history boys
WOLVES V MAN CITY 8.15PM
PEP GUARDIOLA could not care less if people struggle to appreciate the achievements of his Manchester City side.
With just three league games remaining, City are favourites to win their fourth Premier League title in five seasons.
Despite this, Guardiola’s men have lived in the shadow of Liverpool this season.
Jurgen Klopp’s team could still land an historic Quadruple, having won the Carabao Cup and reached the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League. It has seen them take all the attention and plaudits in recent months.
Guardiola believes this might never change but claims he is not concerned.
The Spaniard, whose side visit Wolves tonight, said: “The perspective is not just how good the things are that we do on the pitch, or even behind the scenes, but we cannot control it.
“It will be all the time like this. It’s not going to change – maybe in the future, but now it’s not going to change.
“We are viewed like this from outside because we don’t have the tradition and history of being there in competitions, the history is huge.
“Now it’s the Premier League for the past 30 years, but before it was many years playing in England, and we were away from being there [at the top] with Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal – and of course Chelsea in the past years since Roman Abramovich took over.We want to be there and we want to be allowed to be there, and we have to try on the pitch to do what we have to do.
“We have done incredibly well, but it’s not going to change the opinion of how the players or the club is viewed from outside.”
Guardiola is battling a growing sick list heading into the crucial match at Molineux.
Having sustained a hamstring injury in
Sunday’s emphatic 5-0 win against Newcastle, Ruben Dias joins John Stones and KyleWalker on the sidelines for the run-in.
But Guardiola is convinced he still has a squad with enough character to get the job done.
He said: “I think they handle it really well, which they’ve shown many times.
“We need six or seven points and we have to be at our best to get them, that’s a fact. I still think we have a lot to do.”
Wolves hope to kiss and make up with their fans by stalling City’s march to the title tonight.
Bruno Lage’s side were booed off at the interval and full-time of their 3-0 humbling by Brighton in their last game at Molineux.
But they bounced back with a battling 2-2 draw at Chelsea on Saturday, and first team coach Carlos Cachada said: “Hopefully we showed at Chelsea that we’re back and would love to come back into our own house and play well.”
Lage will take a Covid test this morning to see if he can take his place back in theWolves dugout tonight.
Having tested positive last week, he was forced to give instructions to his assistants over the telephone before and during the Chelsea game.