Pep Guardiola admitted that his club, Manchester City, now has seven finals ahead of them until the end of the season in order to qualify for the Champions League, after his team lost the advantage it previously had in the race for Europe. The blue side of Manchester dropped out of the top five teams for the first time in nearly three months earlier this week, and Guardiola was convinced that his team did not show enough in the previous round, during the clash with Manchester United.Manchester derby we want to forget…The reigning champions have won only three of their last eight Premier League matches, and Spanish coach emphasized that from this point on they might need to secure the maximum number of points so that their fight for the highest level of European competition doesn’t hang by a thread.“With 21 (points), we’ll be there, that’s for sure,” Guardiola said. “Now it’s not very complicated, we don’t have 15, 20 games, now we have seven games left. It’s a final every single game. We have to win a lot of games to qualify, because of Newcastle and the quality of Aston Villa. All the teams involved: Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, Fulham is there – there are a lot of teams that will be there, and you have to win games. Some spirit is back. Some games were good – United no – and the spirit is there. The spirit will sustain us. Maybe we struggle in a game but the spirit has to be there. We saw with incredible curiosity the Champions League games this week and I know the spirit with which they play. It’s what we need to do.”🗣️ Pep Guardiola: “Haaland, Akanji, John Stones, Aké… Rodri… quite good, eh?”“You will see when they will be back. YOU WILL SEE…” pic.twitter.com/9BlFQmoV0E— mcfc lads (@mcfc_lads) April 11, 2025 What certainly isn’t easy for this team is that they are still uncertain which competition they will play in, and thus how to prepare for the season, while they are also still awaiting a court decision over financial misconduct charges.The new sporting director, Hugo Viana, officially started work on Monday, and Guardiola believes that the Portuguese will contribute to reshaping the team.Pep Guardiola asked if he’s had any time with Hugo Viana: “Yeah, we talked! From what I’ve experienced in a short time, it will be so easy to communicate when we are together, so easy! In that terms he’s a perfect replacement.He’s not stressed, he’s not like me, the balance is… pic.twitter.com/DMA0yypvD5— City Report (@cityreport_) April 11, 2025 “It will be so easy to communicate with him. The way we talk, his composure like Txiki – no stress, not like me – and the balance is calm. Hopefully Hugo can express himself. I’ve asked him to forget about what we have done. We need your vision. You don’t come here to just follow what we’ve done in the past. Let’s talk, what you’ve seen about the team over many months watching us, what we can do better.”PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 32Saturday14:30: (1.55) Man.City (4.50) Crystal Palace (5.60)17:00: (1.28) Brighton (5.70) Leicester (10.5)17:00: (2.15) Nott.Forest (3.25) Everton (3.60)17:00: (5.50) Southampton (4.30) Aston Villa (1.57)19:30: (1.60) Arsenal (4.10) Brentford (5.50)Sunday16:00: (1.32) Chelsea (5.60) Ipswich (8.50)16:00: (1.35) Liverpool (5.00) West Ham (9.00)16:00: (2.35) Wolverhampton (3.50) Tottenham (2.95)18:30: (1.75) Newcastle (3.60) Man.Utd. (4.90)Monday22:00: (2.25) Bournemouth (3.40) Fulham (3.20)***odds are subject to change***
