Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City are still “far away” from winning a domestic treble despite reaching their record fourth consecutive FA Cup final.
City booked their place in the final — where they’ll play either Chelsea or Leeds United on May 16 — after a dramatic 2-1 win over Southampton at Wembley on Saturday.
It means Guardiola’s team are now six games away — five in the Premier League and one in the FA Cup — from completing a sweep of English football’s major trophies having already lifted the Carabao Cup in March.
However, the City boss is refusing to talk about the possibility of matching the feat he already achieved in 2019.
“Too much, far away,” Guardiola said, when asked about the prospect.
“Before the final, before the Aston Villa game [on the final weekend] I would tell you it was a chance. Now it’s far, far away.
“Now it’s important, we have three days off for the players, I told them don’t think about football, rest.
“Now we start a season for five games plus the final.”
City sealed their place in a the final thanks to two late goals from Jérémy Doku and Nico González after Finn Azaz had given Southampton a shock lead 11 minutes from time. They are the first team in FA Cup history to reach four successive finals in the competition.
And afterwards, Guardiola hailed the consistency of his team throughout his 10 years in charge at the Etihad Stadium.
“I think what defines, the people say now, how many Champions Leagues and how many this and that, but what defines the club is when you win five Carabao Cups and you play four finals in a row in the FA Cup. That defines,” Guardiola said.
“So, we did it. We did it again. We are in the final again. So we rest mentally and physically, because it has been a tough, tough week, a lot of emotions for these six games.”—Al Jazeera
