Pep Guardiola talks treble after City beat Man United to FA Cup title

After getting rid of Manchester United in the FA Cup on Saturday with a 2-1 win at Wembley Stadium, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has stated that he’s ready to dream about the treble.

The Premier League champions took a huge step to emulate 1998/1999 treble-winning Manchester United side when they completed a domestic double thanks to an Ilkay Gundogan’s brace on either side of a Bruno Fernandes penalty.

Guardiola’s side still has a UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan at Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Turkey this Saturday and will have the chance to complete the treble, a feat that the Italians themselves managed under Jose Mourinho in 2010.

“Now is the first time we can talk about the treble; against United, it was special for our City, for our fans. We performed really well. Really, really well. I am so pleased. We have done incredible, five Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, and Carabaos, but we have to win the Champions League to be recognised how the team deserves to be. It has been amazing, been fun, but we have to win it. We are one game away. I said to the players you have to put the pressure on yourself. To be recognised as something good, you have to win Europe.” Guardiola said.

Pep Guardiola has won the champions league twice with Barcelona but has never lifted the trophy since leaving Camp Nou despite dominating the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

Saturday’s FA Cup final between the two rivals started with Gundogan volleying home the fastest goal in the competition after just thirteen seconds.  

Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty in the 33rd minute to put both games on the level into the break, but it also didn’t take Gundogan long before putting the team ahead with a similar long-range strike that beat David De Gea in goal for the winner.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu