Pep Guardiola: We have done it before, we can win the domestic treble again | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has insisted that Manchester City’s relentless schedule is a sign of success rather than a burden to be resented.

City face Crystal Palace in a midweek Premier League fixture before the FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley this weekend – ahead of their final league games of the season against Bournemouth and Aston Villa – all within the space of a fortnight.

The schedule has drawn considerable attention but Guardiola was having none of the narrative that it represents an unfair disadvantage, having played over 50 games a season consistently since he was appointed Manchester City manager in 2016.

Speaking in a press conference after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Brentford, the 55-year-old explained how he is keeping his squad switched on through their domestic treble pursuit.

Guardiola: Because we did it, we can do it

Asked about managing his squad through such a compressed run of fixtures, Guardiola refused to frame the pressure as anything other than a privilege.

“No we or I don’t think about the generosity of the Premier League, as always, has been really nice for this schedule. But it is what it is! We accept (the demand of their fixture schedule),” he said.

“Always I say, don’t play the final of the FA Cup and you won’t have this schedule. Yeah? So if you’re in the final, you have this schedule.

“And I would love to have the schedule of the semi-finals of the (UEFA) Champions League in the middle of a title race, because we would be there.

“When we won the treble (in 2023) or when we won the quadruple (in 2019), we were there in that dynamic. So it’s really nice. As much you are fit, like we are, looking with energy.

“It’s easy to say, ‘Okay, make substitutions and in one minute, Jeremy (Doku) will put the ball into the net’. But we wanted energy and Omar (Marmoush) gave us that energy, and Phil (Foden) gave us that, and you need everyone. So as much as you are fit, you can do it, because we’ve done it. And because we did it, we can do it.”

The final line is the one that will resonate around the Etihad Stadium dressing room. “Because we did it, we can do it” is not simply motivational rhetoric, it is a reference to a squad that has won trebles and quadruples under this manager and knows, from lived experience, what it takes to sustain performance across congested periods of a season.

What does City’s run-in look like from here?

The reference to Marmoush and Foden providing energy off the bench against Brentford is telling. Guardiola is not simply rotating for the sake of it, he is building a squad environment where every player understands their role and is ready to make an immediate impact when called upon.

City’s final four games of the season – Crystal Palace at home on Wednesday night, the FA Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday, a trip to Bournemouth next week and a difficult test against Aston Villa at home on the final day of the Premier League campaign – represent the summit of a remarkable second half of the season for the Blues.

Guardiola’s message to his players heading into that stretch is as clear as it has ever been: they have done this before. And that means they can do it again.