Pep Guardiola rules out Man City winning the Quadruple
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists it is impossible for them to win the Quadruple.
After his second-string side battled into the League Cup semi-finals yesterday morning (Singapore time) with a 4-3 shoot-out win at Leicester City, the Spaniard was asked if his team could win four trophies this season.
"Forget about it, that is not going to happen," Guardiola told Sky Sports following the game that ended 1-1 after extra-time.
"That's unreal... In football you drop points, you lose. I am not thinking about how many titles, I am thinking about the next game."
However, the dazzling way his team are playing continues to make the fanciful seem possible. The EPL already looks wrapped up, with City having a 11-point lead and they are now in the last four of the League Cup.
If they keep playing the brand of football that has looked the most scintillating in Europe, then triumphs in the Champions League and FA Cup do not seem unreal possibilities either.
Guardiola's latest grand experiment is going so sweetly that City have not lost a domestic game since last season's FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal and their only loss anywhere this term was at Shakhtar Donetsk in a dead Champions League rubber for them.
On yesterday's evidence, what must delight Guardiola as much as the breathtaking stuff being played by his A-listers is that he appears to be blooding a new generation imbued with toughness as well as quality.
Phil Foden, 17, one of the bright young hopes in the English game, 18-year-old Spaniard Brahim Diaz, and local defender Tosin Adarabioyo, 20, all played an admirable part in City's win.
Bernardo Silva put City ahead before Jamie Vardy equalised with a penalty in the seventh minute of added time. City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo then saved from Riyad Mahrez to earn the shoot-out victory.
Said Guardiola: "I'm so happy for all the players. What I liked the most is how we reacted and overcame that situation. It's a good indication for the future."
Meanwhile, the man who racially assaulted City's Raheem Sterling was jailed for 16 weeks after pleading guilty to the offence at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court yesterday.
Karl Anderson, 29, smiled as he was sentenced for kicking and shouting racial abuse at Sterling outside City's training ground ahead of Saturday's Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur. - REUTERS
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