‘My major concern’: Pep Guardiola reveals Man City concern ahead of Arsenal premier league title clash
Pep Guardiola claims Manchester City are ‘exhausted’ ahead of two crucial fixtures against Sheffield United and Arsenal.
Man City have been in sensational form since the World Cup break and beat Bayern Munich 4-1 on aggregate to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
But the quarter-final victory appears to have come at a cost, with Guardiola saying his team are physically and mentally fatigued after the second leg in Munich.
Manchester City, who are chasing a historic treble, face Championship side Sheffield United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday before taking on Premier League title rivals Arsenal on Wednesday.
Victory for Man City against Mikel Arteta’s Gunners would close the gap at the top of the table further following Arsenal’s slight wobble.
‘We are exhausted,’ Guardiola said. ‘I don’t know how we recover to play against Sheffield United. Now is a tough moment for the game on Saturday.’
Manchester City thumped Bayern Munich 3-0 at the Etihad and cruised to a 4-1 aggregate win after drawing at the Allianz Arena.
Guardiola added: ‘Of course I am happy, three years in a row in the semi finals of the Champions League.
‘We struggled in the first half. We were fortunate before the penalty miss, they had one or two chances and anything could happen but we defended really well.
‘The experience that we have in this competition, the players feel it a lot, they want to do it really well. The second half was much, much better since minute one.’
Arsenal have led the Premier League title race for most of the season but Bernardo Silva believes Manchester City can overtake the Gunners and secure the treble.
‘We struggled until February because we couldn’t get in that usual run we had before of winning 10-15 games in a row but now we are very consistent, we feel we have a chance in every competition and we are going for them,’ he said.
‘We are at that point of the season where if you drop your performance in one game you are out of a competition. It is going to be tough but we are going to work very hard to bring some titles home.
‘Building win after win, that confidence, it is very important and we need to keep it that way.’
On Erling Haaland – who scored his 48th goal of the season against Bayern Munich after missing a first-half penalty – Silva added: ‘Erling is a special player, a different player to what we had in the past. He doesn’t need many touches.
‘He is like a shadow for 85 minutes and touches the ball once it is a goal. When we have that special player in attack it makes us feel more comfortable at the back.’
