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Pep Guardiola says the matches with Bournemouth and Fulham are ‘important games’ for the club’s future.Photograph: MI News/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Pep Guardiola has made it clear Manchester City have to “recover quick” from Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat against Crystal Palace, with the manager stating Champions League qualification is “massive”.
City will end the season without a trophy after their 1-0 defeat at Wembley, but they need to move on quickly given they face Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday in their penultimate Premier League game.
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City go into the match insixth on 65 points, one point and one place behind Aston Villa, who hold the final Champions League-qualifying berth. They finish the season at Fulham next Sunday.
“We don’t have much time to recover for an important game against Bournemouth [but] we have to recover quick, we’re a big club,” Guardiola said. “We have two massive important games for the future of this club. The Champions League is massive. It’s obvious. Ask Arsenal, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle or Aston Villa.
“But now is not the time to talk to the players and get into their minds. Sunday is recovery, then [think about the Bournemouth] game and we will see how we prepare, see how the players recover and go from there.”
Guardiola said City performed well against Palace. “There is disappointment when we lose and don’t play well – you are sad but, in the end, you don’t deserve to win. But when you play the way we did – the players gave absolutely everything, we created a lot of chances.
“But this game is about scoring goals so if you don’t score, you must defend. We didn’t defend, we didn’t score, so congratulations to Crystal Palace.
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“Of course it’s better to play against Bournemouth after winning the FA Cup. Wins help winning but now we have to prove how strong we are with our people.
“When we play badly, I’m always here to say: ‘We don’t deserve it.’ It happened last season against Manchester United [in the 2024 FA Cup final]; we didn’t play well. But this year I don’t have this feeling. I don’t have any regrets.”
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