Pep Guardiola nudged his Manchester City players to ‘handle it wisely’ ahead of the international break – and perhaps even follow Kevin de Bruyne’s lead.
The manager praised the attitude of his squad after they became the first team in the history of the FA Cup to reach the semi-finals in six consecutive seasons.
Two deflected strikes from Bernardo Silva secured a 2-0 win over Newcastle and the first of what City hope will be three visits to Wembley before the end of the season as they remain in the hunt for a second consecutive treble.
Guardiola is keen to deflect talk of that but praised their consistency, pointing to their record both in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, which they won in four consecutive years between 2018 and 2021.
“After we won the treble, and five titles, we’re coming to the international break with two months left and to be in contention for all the titles means a lot,” the City boss said.
“I know people talk about the Premier League, the Champions League, but to have won four Carabao Cups and (reach) six FA Cup semi-finals in a row, this team, this club, has something special, so it’s incredible.
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“Of course we want to win all of them but sometimes this is not possible basically for the quality of the opponents and the schedule we have…but we were there six times in a row.
“Always you can have a bad night or a bad afternoon and to be there six times, you didn’t have a bad night. And for those that doubt the consistency of the team you prove they are wrong.”
City effectively put this tie to bed early on. The opener came in the 13th minute when Silva’s right-footed strike looped up off Dan Burn and into the net, and just after the half-hour mark, the Portugal international cut on to his left to hit a shot that found its way in off Sven Botman’s head.
Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku were substituted late on and Guardiola took the time to gently warn his players about over-exertion during the upcoming international break.
“He is not my player anymore from now on, what they will decide will be fine,” Guardiola said of Haaland, who is part of the Norway squad for friendlies against Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“They know that they fought a lot and train a lot, a lot of adrenaline and concentration to arrive in this position. They know they are friendly games and they have to handle it wisely. Hopefully they can do it.”
Much like Kevin de Bruyne, who was omitted from the Belgium squad to face the Republic of Ireland and England, with manager Domenico Tedesco citing how the midfielder had struggled with injury “for the last few matches”.
“We can’t take a risk now and certainly not with Kevin,” he added.
“It is better to give him time to recover well at City and then have him ready for the European Championship.
“I don’t know if there is a connection to his hamstring injury. Yesterday I spoke to the doctor and Kevin and we decided the risk is too great. It is our responsibility to take into account the player but also the player’s club.”
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
