Manchester City finds itself on the edge after a disappointing exit from the Champions League against their long-time rivals, Real Madrid.
After a trophyless season last year, City’s hopes of breaking that streak have been dashed once again, with a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Real, marking the third consecutive season they have been eliminated by the same team.
However, Pep Guardiola’s squad has a chance to redeem themselves this Sunday in the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal at Wembley.
A loss could severely affect their season’s trajectory.
In the first leg, Federico Valverde’s hat-trick proved decisive, while Vinicius Junior’s brace in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium—following Bernardo Silva’s red card—sealed a dominant performance from the 15-time champions.
“It’s tough to be down 4-0 and playing with 10 men against 11. But we did everything we could,” Guardiola told Amazon Prime. “We have an exceptional team and a remarkable group of players. The future is bright. It’s a learning experience, yet it should have been 11 against 11. Who knows, we might have lost 6-0 anyway, but that’s the reality.”
Manchester City will face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, with a subsequent match against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals on the horizon. [Getty Images]
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‘The results have not been good’
This sequence of seven games is pivotal for City’s ambitions across all fronts—losing twice to Real has diminished their trophy chances to three.
They could be down to two after facing a determined Arsenal side this Sunday, eager to break their own trophy drought, which dates back to 2020.
“After the Carabao Cup final, I hope we wake up to a sunny day,” said Guardiola. “It’s not life or death; it’s just a game of football, and we will aim to perform well and win.”
“We will be up against the best team in England so far, the top team in Europe given their results in the group stage, having lost only three or four times all season. We’ll see how we measure up against them.”
City recently managed only a surprise 1-1 draw against struggling West Ham, leaving them nine points adrift in the Premier League with just eight matches remaining, necessitating an extraordinary effort to close that gap.
Moreover, their FA Cup journey is no certainty as they prepare to host rivals Liverpool in the quarter-finals on Saturday, April 4, after the international break, with league matches looming against Chelsea and Arsenal.
Guardiola noted, “After one or two weeks, we’ll face them in the Premier League and it will be a good test to see what we need to do to achieve similar success. I have enough experience to understand that one game isn’t everything—it’s just a game.”
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“Ultimately, the results haven’t been promising, except for against Newcastle, but I believe we are an outstanding team with many positive attributes that I cherish. We aren’t fully complete yet, and we need to be more clinical, but I feel it’s only a matter of time.”
‘I want to retire in 10 years’
The loss in the last-16 tie means Guardiola has yet again failed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the second consecutive year.
Is this the last time he will lead City in this premier club competition?
With increasing speculation about his future, it is understood that City has begun searching for potential successors.
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“I want to retire in 10 years,” Guardiola stated when asked about his prospects. “As with City, my connection to the Champions League is strong, and I’ll always aim to return because I’m part of it.”
“At Barcelona and Bayern Munich, I felt connected to those clubs, and I am equally attached to City after a decade here. When I say ‘we’, it’s because I am integral to it. The reality of being out of the Champions League and our position in the Premier League means we’re still not a complete team. I won’t deny that.”