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Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager, has come out to defend the trophyless season of the club ahead of their upcoming Premier League match away at Brighton. The 54-year-old stated that Manchester City have won the FA Community Shield at the start of the 2024-25 season, comparing it with the Premier League triumph of Liverpool and EFL Cup victory of Newcastle United, and he also stated that their remaining target is to reach the UEFA Champions League (UCL) spot next season.
Notably, in the curtain raiser of this season in August last year, Manchester City defeated Manchester United on penalties in the one-off contest, to win the FA Community Shield title. But since then, they have had quite a tough season in comparison to their recent lofty standards, failing to defend the Premier League title apart bowing out of the UCL before the last eight stage, while their FA Cup and EFL Cup campaign didn’t end well either.
Crystal Palace defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final last weekend
It was last Saturday when Crystal Palace defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the FA Cup final, to win their first trophy in 120 years, denying them the chance to win a major trophy in the ongoing 2024-25 season. While speaking to the media, he addressed the trophyless situation of the club, and remarked, as per BBC Sport, “Except for Newcastle who won the Carabao Cup, Liverpool won the Premier League and Manchester City that won the Community Shield - the other teams didn't win trophies.”
“So the other teams like Chelsea, who can win one title [Europa Conference League] against Real Betis, and [Manchester] United and Tottenham can win the Europa League. All the other teams, they are expecting of course to qualify for the Champions League but this is important for every club that play this in competition next year,” he added.
Moreover, there are three UCL spots currently on the line with Manchester City embroiled in a big battle with Newcastle United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest for it after Liverpool already secured their place in the competition alongside Arsenal.
