Pep Guardiola said winning the FA Cup will not be enough to salvage Manchester City’s troubled season after they reached the final on the same day Liverpool officially ended their reign as Premier League champions.
City’s hold over English football has been strong for years, winning four consecutive Premier League titles. However, this season has seen them stumble, allowing Liverpool to climb back to the top and claim their record-equalling 20th league title.
Liverpool’s triumph was confirmed after a dominant 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, a result that came almost simultaneously with City’s 2-0 victory against Nottingham Forest in their FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
In the semi-final clash, it took just under two minutes for Rico Lewis to put City ahead, giving them an early advantage. Josko Gvardiol later secured the win with a second-half goal, booking City’s spot in their third straight FA Cup final, where they will face Crystal Palace on May 17.
Even with another final appearance and a strong position to secure a Champions League spot through a top-five league finish, Guardiola made it clear he is not satisfied with how the season has unfolded.
When asked if an FA Cup win along with Champions League qualification would be enough for a successful campaign, Guardiola firmly responded: “No, and I have said that many times.”
He openly admitted: “This season has not been good. We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool, so come on, this season has not been good.”
Guardiola also noted the team’s poor performance in the Champions League, saying: “Look at the Champions League. How many games did we win? One or two? And we have always been a machine in that.”
Currently, Manchester City sit 21 points behind Liverpool in the league standings. They are only one point ahead of both Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, who still have a game in hand, making the race for the top five places very tight.
Despite reaching another cup final, Guardiola stressed that consistency in the Premier League is what truly defines a successful season. “The most important thing is qualification for the Champions League and we have to be calm now and recover,” he noted.
City are expected to be favourites against Crystal Palace, especially after their convincing 5-2 league win over Palace earlier this month. Still, Guardiola showed respect for Palace’s strong performance in their semi-final win over Aston Villa, saying: “We have four finals to play, and then an unbelievable game against Palace, and we saw yesterday how good they are.”
