Guardiola demands mental rest for Man City after Club World Cup elimination

ORLANDO, Florida – Pep Guardiola has urged his Manchester City players to “rest their minds” ahead of the new season, following the surprising elimination in the Club World Cup at the hands of Al Hilal. The city team was surprised by the Saudi team, losing 4-3 in extra time at Camping World Stadium last Monday. It was a shame that the team couldn’t go further, but we immediately focused our attention on the start of the Premier League in August.

Guardiola, after the match, expressed his desire to continue in the tournament. “You are only here once every four years. We had the feeling that the team was doing well, but we are going home and now it’s time to rest our minds for the new season.” The coach highlighted the good atmosphere in the team and thanked the squad for their performance. “The margins are minimal.” Guardiola acknowledged that City was not “effective” enough against Al Hilal, especially in the first half, where they had several opportunities to score. The Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bounou had an outstanding performance, allowing his team to come back and finally win in an exciting match, thanks to Marcos Leonardo’s goal in the 112th minute.

In the end, we have to score and be effective. They didn’t create much in the first half, we did, but we couldn’t finish. I felt we could go forward.

Pep Guardiola

Guardiola also highlighted positive aspects, such as the relationship between the players and Bernardo Silva’s leadership. “I feel we were happy here, the training sessions have been very good, but the level of this competition is that of the World Cup.”