Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola aimed something of a preemptive dig at rivals Liverpool and Tottenham after today’s FA Cup final win over Watford.
City beat the Hornets 6-0 at Wembley in an extremely one-sided final, which wrapped up a domestic treble for the club this season.
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Guardiola’s side, however, could not get past Tottenham in the Champions League quarter-finals, with Spurs going on to reach the final, where they’ll face Liverpool in two weeks’ time.
Still, the City manager insists that what his side did today is harder than winning the Champions League – essentially putting a downer on the success that one of LFC or Spurs will enjoy on the 1st of June.
Here’s his quote after today’s game, as reported by the Evening Standard’s James Olley:
Guardiola on #mcfc achieving a domestic Treble: "I love the Champions League but to do that is more difficult than winning the Champions League."
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) May 18, 2019
Given that City faced the likes of Rotherham United (7-0 win) and Newport County (4-1 win) in their run to the FA Cup final, whilst also overcoming the likes of Oxford United (3-0 win) and Burton Albion (10-0 aggregate win) in their run to the Carabao Cup final, we’re not sure this makes much sense.
By contrast, Liverpool had to beat the La Liga champions Barcelona in their semi-final, having also beaten Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich earlier in the competition, while Tottenham got past Eredivisie champions Ajax.
Guardiola, meanwhile, has not won the Champions League for eight years despite consistently managing some of the most talented and expensively-assembled squads in world football.
Sorry, Pep, we’re just not having this one.