Guardiola attributed his side’s recent success to a superior psychological edge rather than purely tactical adjustments, praising the internal hierarchy for fostering a winning culture. He believes the squad’s current freshness, aided by a rare lack of midweek European commitments, has allowed for more focused preparation on the training pitch.
Discussing the extraordinary mindset of his players and the magnitude of the upcoming fixture, the City manager said: “The second half was extraordinary because we had the mindset. It wasn’t tactics. We know each other for a long time and the players showed a good mentality to win here, which is never easy. The past was something unique, but we are growing. We have long weeks now we are out of Champions League. We are more fresh, in training, everyone knows exactly what they have to do."
He added: "We’ll see what happens next. Arsenal is a final but don’t tell me Brentford the next week will be easy. There are many things that are going to happen. I just said yesterday to the players they must relax."