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The Premier League champions have won their last eight games, scoring 33 goals and cashing twice, but it's far too early to talk about winning.
It's quite understandable that Pep Guardiola dismissed Manchester City's quadruple winning chances as "fancy", but after Burnley's FA Cup demolition 5-0 on Saturday, the Blues' continued presence in all four competitions will play a major role in their strategy. chances of success this season.
Liverpool has already come out of this tournament and the team of Jurgen Klopp will have the opportunity to go further in the Premier League while City will be busy competing in the Carabao Cup final.
There is also the possibility that the March derby in Manchester will be postponed to April or even later, considering the eventual stacking of matches. How will City handle all these games?
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This could certainly lead to fatigue a little further and City fans could even hope that Liverpool beat Bayern Munich so that the Reds can not fully focus on the Premier League title from March.
However, for the moment, fans, players and managers would all prefer to participate in these competitions and, in this respect, City is in an enviable position.
They will face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final next month, shortly after a tie in the Champions League with Schalke, who is fighting for the Bundesliga.
With Arsenal and Liverpool outside the FA Cup, City can also cross their fingers for a draw in the fifth round.
If they are distractions of the Premier League, they are certainly welcome, and with such a deep team, he should be confident that he can stay in the fight for a few weeks or even months.
It's like that they've arrived here, of course. A mix of young hopefuls and experienced players earned them a place in the Carabao Cup final, but in the FA Cup, Guardiola has always been solid.
On Saturday at Etihad, City's substitutes had scored 51 goals in all competitions this season.
To date, Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and David Silva have not started, but Ederson, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nicholas Otamendi, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Gabriel Jesus have all done so and with Bernardo Silva and the Still influential Fernandinho on Saturday, this shows that Guardiola would rather win this trophy than to stay home and rest for a Premier League match.
There may be weak spots in some areas of the team, especially at the base of the midfield and the left back, but if you consider that three of the left defenders of City missed the game. Saturday's team and that they can always appeal to Danilo, it is difficult to make this case too strongly.
Fernandinho is however irreplaceable in this team and his fitness in the months to come will also prove crucial. It will have to be carefully managed. As at Huddersfield last Sunday, the Brazilian was replaced as soon as City won 3-0.
Whatever it is, what sense to look too far ahead? This article could have been written a year ago, when City was ready for a Carabao Cup final, ready to face Basel in Europe and set against Wigan in the FA Cup.
Of course, they lost to Wigan, and as soon as Basel was beaten, they had to face the reality of a challenge, before losing to Liverpool in the Champions League, after a combination of accuracy from the Reds and imprecision of the referees. .
So for now, all they can do is focus on the challenge.
"We can try to win tomorrow, that's all I can badure you," Guardiola said Friday to the question of whether it was possible to win the quad. "The other is fantasy."
The Catalan showed impressive restraint in his response to a subject that quickly resurfaced and that City wins again. After all, less than a month ago, he was asked if he was to change his entire football philosophy as a result of two losses at home against Crystal Palace and elsewhere in Leicester.
These dark days seem far away now. After losing to Leicester, City won eight out of eight in all competitions, scoring 33 goals and conceding twice only, and not since the final victory over Liverpool on Jan. 3.
If it continues like this, it could be a very special season.
But there is still a long way to go. City are still in four competitions. For now, everything else is actually a fantasy.
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