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City gaffer Guardiola eyes a place in the final four of the cup competition with a win over the Cherries, who halted City’s 32-game unbeaten run earlier in the season.
Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola gives instructions from the side line during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion at Etihad stadium in Manchester, England, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who will lead the Premier League champions into the quarterfinal clash against Bournemouth on Sunday in the FA Cup, targets a place in the final four of the cup competition with a win over the Cherries, who halted City’s 32-game unbeaten run earlier in the season.
City, who have had to endure a sub-standard season, went down to Bournemouh 2-1 in November, and the defeat served as the first drop in a flood of terrible results Guardiola and Co. had to contend with after years of PL dominance.
“It was our first defeat in the Premier League this season. We have to learn from it and try to reach the semi-finals,” Guardiola began
“That was the first game where we were a little bit not competitive in terms of the standards we required,” he recollected the defeat against the Cherries.
“The game before we lost in the League Cup against Spurs. We were good there. But I could not turn around the symptoms that the Bournemouth game started, in terms of being present and winning duels,” the Spaniard added.
“I tried for many months. This time it took more time,” he revealed.
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City find themselves fifth in the league table and fighting for a place in the UEFA Champipns League next season with a top four PL finish. Guardiola added that a strong showing at the FA Cup is also very much part of his agenda.
“The target is to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for seven years in a row, then after that we have to win games to qualify for the Champions League,” the 54-year-old said.
“In the good moments you learn and in the bad moments you learn,” Guardiola asserted.
“When experiences happen, if you don’t learn they will happen again.”
“When I said in the past, Champions League qualification was a huge success, people didn’t believe me. Now they believe me,” the City gaffer said.
“Of course with the season we have, to come back to Wembley, with the chance to reach the final, that would be nice,” he added.
“We take the FA Cup seriously like the League Cup in the past when we won it four times in a row,” the Catalan said.
Guariodla was given something to smile about as midfield star Rodri, who was expected to be out for the entiriety of the season after suffering an injury last year, made a return to training with the Champions. However, Guariola added that the Spanish Balon d’Or winner wasn’t match fit yet and would not play a part against Bournemouth.
“Listen, it would be nice if he could play tomorrow but it is the wrong decision right now,” Guardiola said.
“He is behaving on the pitch really well but competition is different. We have to be sure he is fine before he is involved,” he signed off.
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