Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that the upcoming clash against Arsenal will be a crucial final. This comes after a 3-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, which moved his side to within six points, with a game in hand, of Mikel Arteta’s league leaders.
According to him, even though he knows that Manchester City still has many tough games ahead, the Arsenal game has clearly become a potential title decider.
Pep added that he has a lot of respect for what the Gunners have been able to achieve in recent years.
His words, “Arsenal is a final. But don’t tell me Brentford [on May 9] will be easy.
We are going to play against a team [Arsenal] that in 49 games lost three games, in Champions League didn’t lose once.
In the Carabao Cup final, we were complete underdogs — there is not one person in this country that would bet £1 that we would be much better. Maybe now it’s a bit different.
The respect I have for Arsenal, what they have done the last few years. I know the manager, the players, the quality, how they compete in every circumstance, that’s the biggest job we have.
They have been the best team in this country, in Europe, so far. Beating Arsenal once is so difficult — imagine beating them twice in a few weeks.
The past was something unique, but we are growing. We have long weeks now we are out of Champions League, but we are more fresh and in training, everyone knows exactly what they have to do.”
WOW.
Pep Guardiola Sala is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently managing Premier League club Manchester City. Guardiola is the only manager to win the continental treble twice, the youngest to win the UEFA Champions League, and he also holds the records for the most consecutive league games won in La Liga, the Bundesliga, and the Premier League. He is considered to be one of the greatest managers of all time.
Guardiola has played for and advocated on behalf of the Catalonia football team. Between 1995 and 2005, he played seven friendly games for Catalonia.
Under Guardiola’s predecessor Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona were known for a 4–3–3 with plenty of flair with Ronaldinho being the centre point of the attack. Under Guardiola, however, the team became more disciplined with a greater focus on possession and a disciplined and aggressive pressing style.
Guardiola was born to Dolors and Valentí. He has two older sisters and a younger brother, Pere, a football agent. He is an atheist. Guardiola met his wife Cristina Serra when he was 18. They married on 29 May 2014.
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