Premier League
Manchester City Maintains Premier League Focus Amidst Champions League Preparation
Pep Guardiola stated that Manchester City will not be distracted by their upcoming Champions League match against Real Madrid, remaining focused on their Premier League clash against Luton Town as they aim to defend their title.
“We have to (focus on Luton Town), the Premier League is so important,” Guardiola said on Friday. It’s 11, 10 months we’ve been fighting for the title, we know what position we are in.”
With seven games left and no room for mistakes, third-placed Manchester City, currently on 70 points, have the opportunity to move to the top of the table on Saturday and put pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool, who are tied at 71 points.
Pep Guardiola was unable to give an update on the fitness of Nathan Ake, Phil Foden, and Kyle Walker ahead of the match. Foden had to be substituted late in the 3-3 draw against Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final, while Ake and Walker were already out due to injuries. “We’re training this afternoon and then we’ll know better how they feel,” he said.
Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson is back to full fitness and is expected to regain his starting position on Saturday, replacing Stefan Ortega. Meanwhile, City midfielder Rodri has requested a break following their 3-3 draw with Madrid, acknowledging that the team is fatigued due to their hectic schedule as they chase three trophies this season.
“Take a look at our games and you realize,” Guardiola said on Rodri’s comments. “It is simple. He is so important for the quality he gives us. But if you have a player that doesn’t want to play, he won’t play”.
He continues “I need to rest the center halves also but in (England’s) friendly games, (John Stones and Kyle Walker) got injured so they cannot rest. We are in big, big trouble. I had the feeling we were tired in the last games. We will decide tomorrow what we have to do.”
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland leads the league in goals with 19, prompting questions to Guardiola about what else the prolific scorer needs to achieve to secure the Ballon d’Or this season, following his second-place finish to Lionel Messi in 2023.
“He needs to play more minutes, to learn from what you have to do,” Guardiola said. “But the target is not the Ballon d’Or, the target is to win trophies and he did. Would we have won five trophies last year without him? Not a chance. It’s not about Erling or any other player. Until you retire, you can (always) be better.”
Manchester City narrowly defeated 18th-placed Luton Town 2-1 at Kenilworth Road in December and later eliminated the struggling side from the FA Cup with a convincing 6-2 victory in the fifth round in February. After their Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday, City will head to Wembley three days later to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.
