Pep sees 4th straight League Cup as appetiser

LONDON • Even as his Manchester City players celebrated on the Wembley pitch after winning Sunday's League Cup final, manager Pep Guardiola was already setting his sights on bigger prizes.

City's 1-0 win over Tottenham - a scoreline that did not do justice to their dominance - sealed a record-equalling fourth successive League Cup trophy.

It was also the first part of what could be a treble this season. Manchester United's failure to beat Leeds on Sunday means City could seal a third Premier League title in four seasons as early as this weekend if they beat Crystal Palace and the Red Devils lose to Liverpool.

Before that, City take on Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Parc des Princes tomorrow.

So while Guardiola was clearly delighted with Sunday's win - making him the first manager to win the League Cup in four successive seasons - the Catalan knows that is only an hors d'oeuvre to the season's main menu.

"Now we rest and prepare for the first leg against Paris Saint-Germain, then after that, we are two games away from trying to win the most important title of the season," he said. "The Premier League is the nicest one, the one where I am most proud when we are able to do it.

"We are 10 points clear, we need two victories, and in between the games in this crazy schedule, we are going to try to win the next one against Crystal Palace."

Barring an unprecedented collapse, City will be crowned Premier League champions for the third time in four seasons, but the Champions League is in the balance.

It has proved a tricky challenge for Guardiola since arriving at City with a mission to make the club the kings of Europe for the first time.

The clash with PSG will be his first semi-final since taking over at the Etihad in 2016 and it is the side's second time in the final four.

Therefore, it was a slight surprise to see so many of his key men, including Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden, being risked against a sub-standard Spurs side, but Guardiola felt he had to field a strong XI with the first trophy of the campaign on the line.

"We cannot deny one eye is always on the Champions League," he said. "(But) I have to be honest with myself and I thought they were ready to play in this selection.

"We arrive in these last stages, as we did this season and in previous seasons, because we take every game seriously. If not it is impossible to win four Carabao Cups in a row."

While Sunday marked Guardiola's 30th piece of silverware as a manager since taking over at Barcelona in 2008, Spurs have had five different full-time managers in the past 13 years without winning a trophy.

Many of their players cut a forlorn figure at the full-time whistle, with Son Heung-min in tears, after an insipid showing that saw them take just one shot on target.

Interim boss Ryan Mason, whose side's last trophy was the 2008 League Cup, admitted Spurs were "four or five years" behind City and had a summer of rebuilding to do, with the appointment of a full-time manager their most pressing concern.

REUTERS