Pep Guardiola admits Manchester City ‘cannot control’ talk of a treble as the club prepare to face Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Manchester City are two wins from completing a historic treble, as the Premier League champions face rivals United in the FA Cup final at Wembley this weekend, before meeting Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10.
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Guardiola’s side have the chance to match Manchester United’s achievement from the 1998/99 campaign, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s side the only team in English football history to have won all three trophies in the same season.
Ahead of the first-ever Manchester Derby cup final, Guardiola said his team are focused only on this weekend’s encounter and said City ‘cannot control’ outside noise when it comes to a potential treble.
“[We are in the] final of FA Cup [and it is a] pleasure to be here. [We] travel tonight and be ready for tomorrow. It’s a final, nothing else,” Guardiola told his pre-match press conference.
“We just have to think about what we have to do in one game, nothing changes. We analyse the strength of the opponent, see the weaknesses they have.
“It’s a football game, that’s the most important thing. We cannot control what’s on the outside. [Over these] last two games we do what we can to win the game.
“A final is special but with what Manchester United are doing in the last four or five months, they are a different team to the one we played [and beat] in October. We played good when we lost in January [at Old Trafford].
“Now I have the feeling that they’ve improved, more clear, the patterns, the quality they have. It’s united, the quality has always been there with Jose and other managers, always they were good.”
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