Pep Guardiola admits he has shifted his focus to Manchester City’s upcoming FA Cup final as they seek the treble. City meet arch-rivals Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley next week before heading to Istanbul seven days later to face Inter Milan in the Champions League final. The newly-crowned champions first need to wrap up their Premier League season in Brentford on Sunday, but with the outcome at the Gtech Community Stadium being of little consequence, Guardiola admits he is planning ahead. The Inter game may remain in the back of his mind for the time being, but the game against United plays an increasingly prominent role in the City manager’s mind. Guardiola said: “I would say I saw a bit of Inter last week but not this week. I’m more focused on United now.” I watched their game against Chelsea. I was really impressed and started thinking a little bit about what they did to us in the game at Old Trafford. “We have to be careful like in the past. I’d be careful anyway, but after Thursday and the last few games we’ll prepare as best we can.” Guardiola faces a balancing act this weekend. He might want to give some players a break before the finals, but he also thinks it’s important for others to keep performing. Jack Grealish, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji were not risked in Brighton midweek as they were not considered fully fit, but big talents Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Bernardo Silva were all there. “Brighton has helped us maintain the level and hopefully Brentford will help us maintain that rhythm to reach the final,” said Guardiola. “We need that but it’s important to arrive with fit and ready people in the last week before the finals.” The game in Brentford will be very different from Brighton. I know it’s meaningless in terms of points, but in terms of maintaining the demanding effort, they will drive us. It’s going to be so difficult.
The article ‘Pep Guardiola more focused on Manchester United FA Cup Final’ appeared first on Planetsport.com.
Comments are closed.