Pep Guardiola claims pressure of title race will bring Manchester City's best | Football News

Watch Man City vs. Cardiff Wednesday from 7pm on Sky Sports Premier League; The kick off is at 19:45

Pep Guardiola believes the pressure of winning every remaining Premier League match can strengthen Manchester City's quadruple bid.

The city's boss, Guardiola, praised the mental toughness of his players, prompting them to "jump into a machine" in the race to conquer an unprecedented Premier League, Champions League record, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

His team doubled the unfortunate Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage on Saturday in Cardiff next Wednesday.

City will also face Tottenham in the quarterfinals of the Champions League and Brighton in the last four FA Cup games, with Guardiola feasting on the busy schedule and the pressure.

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April 3, 2019, 7:00 pm

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"For the semifinal and the Champions League, be in the Premier League position where you know that if you do not win, you will lose the Premier League, maybe it will help us for other competitions," says Guardiola.

"If you have 10 points in advance, you may be able to be a little more selective.

"But now there is no other option, we have no other choice, so we have to win every game, if not give up this competition.

"That is why it is sometimes pleasant to play with this pressure, it is necessary to make the best of ourselves.

1:47

Manchester City manages its energy bid for a quadruple, says Alyson Rudd of the Times

"We do not complain about our mentality, what happened last season and this season again.

"The players are not stupid, about the fact that we are trying something as hard to achieve.

"The way we started playing against Fulham, they showed me that we wanted to do it.

"The next step is Cardiff, so let's get ready and go like a machine to win, to play and to try to win." Mentally, the players are ready.

2:59

Highlights of Manchester City's victory over Fulham in the Premier League

Kevin De Bruyne's fitness on Saturday gave Guardiola a new boost as City came closer to a perfectly clean state of health.

Fernandinho was back on the substitutes' bench in Fulham, and Guardiola even admitted that young star Phil Foden could play at one point against Cardiff on Wednesday.

Fernandinho gets ready in Manchester City mash-up jersey before Fulham match at Craven Cottage

"It's really important, but it's still a bit far from its best state," said Guardiola, of Fernandinho.

"We know how (Ilkay) Gundogan played in his absence.

"But we need Kevin, we obviously need people like Vincent (Kompany), Phil (Foden), so we'll make some changes in the next game.

"Some players will play against Cardiff and I want the best for them."

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