Pep knows his team are peaking at right time for biggest match of the season
Having comfortably dispatched Copenhagen, Pep Guardiola cheekily refused to answer questions about Sunday’s blockbuster with Liverpool until his next media conference on Friday.
‘If I answer the questions, you would not come on Friday and I want to see you all,’ he smiled, a manager in control and aware his team are peaking at the right time for the biggest contest of the season.
City go to Anfield trailing their rivals by a point at the top of the table but with 24 hours more to prepare, with Jurgen Klopp’s side also facing a flight back from Prague after Europa League activity on Thursday.
Guardiola was able to give Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva the night off in completing a 6-2 aggregate win over Copenhagen to earn a seventh consecutive spot in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Rodri was withdrawn at half-time with the job already done, Ruben Dias at three-quarter time. Only Erling Haaland of the big guns stayed out for nearly the whole game but he was rewarded with another goal – his 41st in European competition still four months shy of his 24th birthday.
‘Be calm, don’t lose your emotions,’ was Guardiola’s message to his some of his second string in which Oscar Bobb and Rico Lewis looked good.
In the past, he’s been accused of doing that when facing Liverpool, most notably when he put Ilkay Gundogan on the wing for a Champions League tie at Anfield. City lost 3-0.
This feels like a different Guardiola and a confident City who realise they will make history if they retain the league title. No team has won four-in-a-row in 150 years of the English League championship.
In two of those seasons, City have finished a single point ahead of Liverpool following epic duels. This time
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