Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the magic of Wembley as he prepares for another trip to the famous stadium
Pep Guardiola heads back to Wembley with Manchester City
Pep Guardiola heads back to Wembley with Manchester City
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Pep Guardiola joked about not letting his backroom staff leave Manchester City and having a stand named after him at Wembley as the Blues prepare for the FA Cup final. City travel down on Friday for a record-breaking fourth consecutive final where Guardiola could claim a 20th title in 10 years in English football.
The Blues are in the middle of three tough games that will help decide how many trophies they add to the Carabao Cup they have already won this season, and Guardiola admitted that the schedule is not ideal with fewer days to prepare for Chelsea on Saturday and then Bournemouth on Tuesday than their two opponents do.
That is in part down to the success City have already enjoyed though, with a crowning performance at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final in March and another chance of silverware directly ahead of them. In what will be Guardiola's 24th trip to the stadium as City manager, he cut a relaxed figure as he joked about the magic of Wembley for him.
"I'm so disappointed that they don't make a stand for Pep, the number of times I've been there at least a lounge or a box. Maybe I go 24 more times," he said.
"It's been a special place, with Barcelona in 1992 (when he was a player in their European Cup final win over Sampdoria) and after with (Manchester) United with Barcelona (when his Barca side beat United in the Champions League final in 2011) for the second time, and many times since I am here with semi-finals and finals. It's really good to go to Wembley again. Top.
"Everything is so nice. The pitch is extraordinary, hopefully it will be a nice day and nothing will happen with fans coming into the stadium and desperate to perform well. Read what you have to do, you see the patterns and they do it really well."
Guardiola has turned down several opportunities to say he will still be at City next season despite his contract running until 2027, and there is an expectation that this will be his last year at the Etihad. News this week that goalkeeping coach Xabi Mancisidor and fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura will leave this summer have added to that feeling.
The Blues boss was not ready to clarify his future ahead of the final though, joking that he had in fact not agreed to departure of the coaching pair. "I extended the contract of all of them for three more years!" he said.