Guardiola: 'Man City are far from the treble'
Victory put Man City into the final of the FA Cup. Guardiola's teachers and students thereby continued to raise their ambition to recreate the treble of the club and the city of Man Utd in the 1998-1999 season.
Man City will meet the winner of the Man Utd - Brighton pair in the FA Cup match on June 3, and Real in the Champions League semi-finals. On April 26, Guardiola's team received Arsenal at the Etihad - a match likely to decide the race for the Premier League title. Man City currently has 70 points, five points behind Arsenal but played two fewer games.
When asked if Man Utd fans should be worried about Man City winning the treble, Guardiola laughed and replied: "They don't need to be afraid, we are neighbors. Neighbors always bother each other! But Man City is still very far from the treble. The reality is completely different from the expectation."
In seven years leading Man City, Guardiola has only won an FA Cup when defeating Watford 6-0 in the final of the 2018-2019 season. The Manchester club were eliminated in the semi-finals the following season, losing to Arsenal 1-2, Chelsea 0-1 and Liverpool 2-3 respectively.
Therefore, Guardiola is pleased to return to the FA Cup final after three years. "This result came right after the win over Bayern in the Champions League, and we talked about having to keep trying and performing well," added the Spain coach. "Today, the whole team, even the players who came on from the bench, performed well. Everyone was perfect."
In the semi-finals of the FA Cup yesterday, Guardiola replaced six positions compared to the draw with Bayern in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final in the middle of the week. Stefan Ortega, Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Sergio Gomez and Julian Alvarez replace Ederson, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, respectively, while Nathan Ake is absent through injury.
The turning point of the game at Wembley came in the 43rd minute, when Daniel Jebbison cut down Bernardo Silva in the penalty area, helping Man City enjoy a penalty. On the 11m mark, Riyad Mahrez shot to the right corner, against the direction of the Sheffield goalkeeper's judgment to open the scoring.
In the second half, the Algerian star scored two more goals to complete the hat-trick and put Man City into the final. At 32 years and six days, Mahrez became the oldest player ever to score a hat-trick for a Pep Guardiola-directed club, as well as the first hat-trick in an FA Cup semi-final since Alex Dawson in Man City. United met Fulham in 1958.
The Spanish coach was impressed with Sheffield's endurance and praised Mahrez as a player of big games. Guardiola half-jokingly half-truth that his students are always grumpy and his attitude towards him when he is not playing. "I am pleased because Mahrez loves football. He has given Man City a lot, and hopefully more in the future," he added.
