Be ready to run a lot to prepare for finals, Pep Guardiola warns Man City

LONDON – Despite having won the English Premier League title, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola still wants his team to be focused on the last two league games of the season, as they travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday.

City were

crowned English champions for the fifth time in six seasons

on Saturday when second-placed Arsenal lost at Nottingham Forest.

Guardiola’s side then enjoyed their title party on Sunday with a 1-0 win over Chelsea before captain Ilkay Gundogan lifted the trophy.

With their third successive title in the bag, City can focus on emulating the Manchester United team who won the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup in 1998-99.

But before that, City must finish their league campaign with trips to Brighton and Brentford on Sunday.

“To play as best as possible we have to be completely focused in these two games, they are really good teams,” said Guardiola on Tuesday.

“My players have the party after the game. I don’t know how they feel, but they have to be ready to run a lot. The best way to prepare for the (FA Cup and Champions League) finals is to be ready.

“The players set the standards, they have to maintain it. It’s normal the energy would drop.

“Arsenal play for just the Premier League, we have FA Cup, Champions League, the energy we spend is massive. It’s normal you drop, but we have to avoid it or don’t drop much.

“Play our game, adapt the way we play, arrive to (face) United and Inter in the best condition possible.”

Gundogan has also urged City to stay focused as the team prepare for the climax to their treble bid.

They face United in the FA Cup final at Wembley on June 3, and Inter Milan in the Champions League final in Istanbul on June 10.

City, who won their last 12 league matches, are unbeaten in 24 games and Gundogan, like Guardiola, is wary of losing momentum.

“We haven’t lost any games for so many weeks and that’s the standard that we have to set for ourselves,” the German said.

“Obviously, we want to finish the season with two more trophies. We have two more big finals, and the last two games of the Premier League season are going to be preparation for that. We don’t want to drop anything.”

Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, who like Gundogan is now a five-time Premier League winner, is also confident City can do something “special” at the end of their latest triumphant campaign.

“We like to win, and we’re never bored of it. We’ve won a lot in the past, but we want to win again and again,” he said.

“We keep on working. We enjoy the games against Brighton and Brentford, prepare for United and Inter and hopefully we can do something special.”

City’s only injury concern for Wednesday is Nathan Ake, while Brighton will be without Solly March, Adam Lallana, Tariq Lamptey, Jakub Moder and Jeremy Sarmiento. Adam Webster is also a doubt.

The Seagulls have won three of their last four home games and sit in sixth, five points behind Liverpool who have just one game remaining.

Roberto de Zerbi’s men are guaranteed a top-seven finish, but the Italian has urged his team to clinch at least a point from their last two fixtures to ensure they finish sixth and, with it, a Europa League spot.

“We’ve got a massive game against Manchester City on Wednesday and then we go to Villa Park on Sunday to complete what has been a fantastic season for us,” said the Brighton boss.

Looking ahead to the next campaign, he added: “Now we have to organise, we have to build a new squad. We have to organise for the new season.

“We have to compete in the Europa League. We have to compete in the Premier League... We have to be ready to bring in other big players. We have to arrive ready to compete in four competitions.” AFP