Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City are closing in on Arsenal. After a convincing 3-1 win against Leicester City on Saturday, the reigning champions now trail the leaders in the league by just four points with a match in hand.
In order to win the coveted trio of trophies, City must now play three crucial games that might make or break their season. The three trophies are the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.
They have a comfortable 3-0 lead following the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal as they head to Bayern Munich. The noisy neighbors of Manchester will then play Championship team Sheffield United in the FA Cup semifinal on Saturday.
Both of those matches should result in victories for Pep Guardiola and his team, but their upcoming league match against Mikel Arteta’s team at home on April 26 at Etihad Stadium might determine who wins the league.
What did Pep Guardiola say?
Guardiola spoke about the upcoming fixtures in the post game conference. As reported by BBC Sport, he said, “Like I said in the previous press conference, it is to win win win.”
“They [Arsenal] have had an incredible run so far this season, I don’t think they will drop many points and we have to be in there. It is important for us to arrive at the match by winning today and [it is] a final against them in the next Premier League game.”
When Arsenal plays West Ham on Sunday, they have a chance to regain their six-point lead, and if they win, it might be nine points by the time they face City since they have a league matchup against relegation battling Southampton on Friday.
He further spoke about the importance of the Arsenal game. “It is a final to play more finals, if we lose this game it will be almost over.”
“We have to arrive in this position having the chance to be close to Arsenal. We want this opportunity knowing how difficult it will be but before that, we have a Champions League semi-final chance and the FA Cup.”
Fans are worried about Guardiola and his commitment to the UCL
The fact that Guardiola only spoke about the Arsenal game but not the crucial Bayern game left fans wondering. They think about whether the Citizens boss values the UCL at all. They wonder whether he will finally be sacked if he fails to win the UCL. Man City was almost close to UCL glory two years ago but fell short of winning it as they lost 1-0 to Chelsea.
The Spaniard has a contract until 2025. And while his domestic form in England has been most commendable, the UCL has been amiss. In the end, the decision is up to City’s board whether they want to keep him or not.
Manchester City and Guardiola will now face Bayern Munich away on Thursday. They will look to finish things off with them and continue their pursuit of a maiden Champions League trophy.
