Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola laughed off claims that his team might consider this season special had they gotten a Champions League ticket.
City came close to securing European qualification with their 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the Premier League on Tuesday, thanks to a last-minute goal from Matheus Nunes in the 94th minute.
Guardiola’s men moved two places up to third in the league table, but are still seventeen points behind Liverpool, and so they will end up completing another one of their season’s goals of gaining a record fifth title in a row well short.
“Still, this season is awful,” said Guardiola. “Reaching the cup final or qualifying for the Champions League doesn’t matter. What makes you feel the season is good is the Premier League, not the Champions League or FA Cups. It’s the consistency in the Premier League.”
“But it does happen sometimes that you have a bad season. Every single one of those teams is outstanding.”
Pundit Roy Keane has thought that the summary given by Guardiola is way over the top in terms of negativity.
“He’s been pretty tough on his team and I think that was out of order,” the former Manchester United football-specific pundit noted during his appearance on Sky Sports. “Tough start, of course, a massive blow with Rodri (sustaining a torn anterior cruciate ligament) and they have not been at their very best.
“But that was always going to happen. Still, winning the FA Cup and entering the Champions League is good enough, I suppose. It is just that the last few seasons have put the bar so high that any drop-off does look bad.”
City travel to Nottingham Forest for their FA Cup semi-final on Sunday, while Crystal Palace host Aston Villa in the other semi on Saturday.
On the other hand, City and Villa seemed to be heading for a stalemate at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, as Marcus Rashford equalised from the penalty spot for United shortly after Silva’s opener.
The night was solid for Kevin De Bruyne, who announced he would be leaving City at the end of the season two weeks ago. He crafted six chances, which no one else came close to with two. Per Opta, it marked the 60th occasion the Belgian had five or more chances in a league match, the highest of any player dating back to the 2003-04 season.
De Bruyne, who remarked on Sunday that it was strange not to be given a new deal by the club, could not be bothered to get off the advertising hoarding where he was sitting after instructing some of the players. Instead, sitting on the hoarding, where he has a clear view of the action on the pitch, pitched for his “walk around” to the City’s technical area where he eagerly awaited his substitution for Manuel Akanji at the end of the game.