Guardiola will not waste 'even one second' thinking about treble

By Sports Desk March 01, 2023

Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to not even waste a second thinking about the prospect of winning a treble this season.

The reigning English champions saw off second-tier side Bristol City 3-0 on Tuesday, thanks to Phil Foden's brace and a Kevin De Bruyne strike, to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.

City are level with RB Leipzig at 1-1 after the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie and trail Arsenal – who have a game in hand – by two points in the Premier League.

Guardiola has previous experience of winning a European and domestic treble during his time with Barcelona, but he is not giving that any consideration right now.

"No, forget about it," he said when asked about the possibility of lifting three trophies this season. "Forget it.

"When you start to talk about that, you start to lose competitions and drop competitions. We are not ready. We will not spend even one second thinking about that. We just think about [the next game against] Newcastle.

"The only thing I've said many times – I'm so annoyed to say it again and again and again and again after what happened in the last years – we are still two, three months away from finishing the season, we are still in three competitions."

City have won the Premier League in four of the past five seasons, and Guardiola says toppling Arsenal – while also holding off in-form rivals Manchester United – remains the top priority for his side.

"That is the biggest credit. This is the biggest title. The biggest one," he said. 

"I know we cannot drop points in the Premier League because we have on top of us a team [Arsenal], and United are coming from behind.

"And the Champions league, we see what happen in two weeks. What is important is we are there, but of course, we are going to continue as long as possible."

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    Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.

    The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.

    The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.

    There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.

    Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.

    “Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.  

    “That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.

    “Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.  

    “I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.  

    “Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”

     

    Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.

    That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.

    He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.

  • Rodri: Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt Rodri: Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt

    Manchester City and Spain star Rodri has suggested that Lionel Messi pipped Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest footballer of all time.

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    "We didn’t want Cristiano to step into the box because he was lethal there. But with Messi, the danger was everywhere on the pitch."

    Ronaldo has scored a total of 928 goals in his career for club and country, winning 34 major trophies including five Champions League titles. He has also won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions.

    Messi, meanwhile, has scored 877 goals, won the Champions League on four occasions and the Ballon d'Or five times, most recently in 2023.

    Messi is now at Inter Miami, while Rodri is recovering from an ACL injury at Manchester City, although the two faced each other in LaLiga during the midfielder's spells at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid before his Premier League move.

    "When Messi got the ball, you’d think: 'Oh, danger'," he added. "When I first started playing against him, I tried to take the ball from him, and he dodged you as if you were a bull in the ring. The feeling I had was that something bad was about to happen."

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    Bruno Guimaraes says he is happy at Newcastle United, despite reported interest from Manchester City and Pep Guardiola.

    The Magpies skipper has become a fan favourite at St James' Park since his move from Lyon in June 2022.

    Guimaraes helped Newcastle qualify for the Champions League in his first full season at the club, and succeeded Kieran Trippier as team captain ahead of this term.

    The all-action midfielder completed the most tackles for Newcastle in each of his first two full Premier League campaigns, while only compatriot Joelinton (28) betters his tally of 27 so far in 2024-25. 

    Meanwhile, only Dan Burn (598) has made more passes for Eddie Howe's side than Guimaraes (541), who revealed he spoke with City boss Guardiola to share their mutual respect, but nothing further.

    "I believe that at my club, I am an idol and I have a lot of respect," he told Brazilian newspaper Globo.

    "I am the captain of Newcastle, and it is something that if you had asked me three years ago, my biggest dream would have been to play in the Premier League.

    "Playing, being an idol, being captain is something wonderful. I really like Newcastle. Of course, having Manchester City's interest shows that I am at a high level, but it was nothing more than interest.

    "I know that Guardiola likes my football, it is normal to have great coaches who admire your football. We have spoken once. I praised his work, he praised my work, but it was nothing more than that."

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