Pep Guardiola has challenged his Manchester City to prove they are a top club by beating the ‘toughest opponent’ they could have.
City were left licking their wounds on Wednesday after a penalty shootout ended their hopes of winning consecutive Champions League trophies with Real Madrid knocking them out at the Etihad. There is little time for the players to reflect on their defeat as they face Chelsea in an FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
It is the first major defeat felt by City in nearly two years – the last time Real Madrid knocked them out of the Champions League – and any dreams of a Treble must now be channelled into trying to win the two remaining competitions they are left in. Guardiola was proud on Wednesday that his players has stayed true to their identity, and wants exactly the same at Wembley if they want to show the mentality of a big club.
“Don’t feel sorry that we’re out, it’s the highest level and these kind of situations happen. You arrive in latter stages with the best teams in the world and the country and sometimes you lose games,” he said.
“There is no better fact in being a top, top club when you accept that with normality. The problem is when you don’t perform or when you are not who you are.
“Accept that they can beat you and it happens in football. Sometimes you win when you don’t deserve it, it has happened sometimes at our club. Accept and congratulate, improve, and the next time work out what to do better to beat them again.
“If you start to complain at the decisions or say we were unlucky, what is that? Over 180 minutes always there are unlucky moments and chances for both sides.”
Guardiola has complained about the short turnaround between their two games this week and pointed out that City have the toughest draw for the semi-final they could have done. The medical team will have to work out which players are in the best condition to start, although the manager is confident that all will be ready.
“The FA Cup semi-final is a huge target to reach another final. We lived it last season. The FA Cup final is so nice,” he said.
“Maybe the toughest opponents we can face right now, with all respect to United and Coventry of course, but a really tough opponent. We travel and try to smell who feels better, who recovers better from the game against Madrid.
“They say ‘I’m fine, Pep’ when you talk with them, but you never know who is fine – some recover better than the other ones. Everyone is ready to do this battle again.”
