Pep Guardiola looked at Manchester City's situation in the current highly congested race for a top-five spot and UEFA Champions League qualification. The City manager also gave Adam Wharton, a star player for Crystal Palace, credit for making the leap from playing in the Championship with his hometown Blackburn Rovers to being selected for England's 2024 Euro squad. He said: "If you want to be in the Champions League next season and play Tuesday, Wednesday, you have to win almost all the games.
"Now it’s not very complicated. Seven games remain rather than 15, 20, or even more. It’s a final every single game.
"We have to win a lot of games to qualify, because Newcastle only plays one game a week and Aston Villa's quality, Chelsea, and Nottingham Forest are all involved." When asked if any of those injured stars could return on Saturday, he replied: "[They are] still injured, yeah, still injured, we’ll see. [Injuries] happened all season, we adapt.
"The position is a disaster, or it could be worse, and you can see it as a problem or a challenge. I’m happy with the way we handled the situation and where we are.
"The challenge is to qualify in the Champions League next season, the home games, difficult ones we have and tomorrow we have a team in incredible top form in the last month or two month
This week and next will be very strange for Pep Guardiola as for the first time in eight years he will not be involved in a Champions League quarter-final tie. But next season things could be even worse. He might not even be competing in the most prestigious event in Europe. That grim possibility took a step closer to becoming a reality after Manchester City's uninspiring 0-0 draw at Manchester United on Sunday. City would have climbed above Chelsea into fourth in the Premier League had they won the game but instead they were left settling for just a point and are now clinging on to fifth place.
Unlike in previous years, finishing in the top five all but guarantees Champions League qualification due to English clubs' stellar performances in Europe this season. However, even if City continues to play with as little determination and desire as they did in what is supposed to be their most important match, their place in the top five is far from certain.
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