pep guardiola Admits it’s “a dream come true” for him Manchester City to fight for the fourth time in a row Premier League Title as he prepares to face nottingham forest The team was enraged by the alleged injustice.
City boss Guardiola helped his side score the treble last season but fears the club will not be able to continue their relentless pursuit of silverware this season.
The defending champions are in control of their destiny as they prepare to begin their final five top-flight fixtures on Sunday afternoon at what is expected to be a hostile City ground.
“Of course teams, especially ours, are tired – that’s normal at the end of the season,” Guardiola said.
“But at the same time, it’s very exciting. Fighting for the Premier League again is a dream come true.
“Honestly, I couldn’t have expected this. I know the dream was to be there but because of what happened in the past, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do that this season.”
Forest, who is in danger of being sacked, has spent a week hitting the headlines with high-profile criticism of match officials.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s precarious side were left fuming after three penalties were missed during their costly 2-0 defeat at Everton last weekend.
“I’m not in the locker room at Nottingham Forest so I don’t know what effect it’s going to have on them – I can imagine but I don’t know,” Guardiola said.
“I’ve been to that stadium once or twice and the atmosphere is always incredible so maybe there will be something extra to the fact that they are in a relegation battle.
“I am concerned about how we control the strikers they have, we have to control the weapons they have.
“Of course they are going to use domestic people to support them but that is normal.”
City, unbeaten in 18 league games, keeps its title quest on track brighton 4-0 on Thursday evening.
The tremendous south-coast success was followed by an incredible 1–0 FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea at Wembley, which saw the club’s Champions League defense end on penalties against Real Madrid.
Guardiola admits that lower-than-expected performances may be expected in the latter stages of a difficult campaign, but insists that all that matters is the win.
He said: “Chelsea were the real proof. We played in difficult conditions. We were not prepared to compete with them but we did.
“We played well? No, we were stable? No, but we found a way to win.
“Sometimes when you play 60, 65 games in a season, people say, ‘Ah, you’re not playing like last game.’
“What do you expect? It’s impossible to play at the highest level all the time – impossible.
“The important thing is to be consistent when you’re not at your highest level and score points and win games.”