MANCHESTER CITY go from one big game to another as they face Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday, just three days after being knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.
City manager Pep Guardiola is waiting to see how his players react after the disappointment of losing on penalties to the side from the Spanish capital in the quarterfinals of Europe’s premier competition.
“We will see tomorrow,” said Guardiola when discussing how his players will recover physically and mentally.
“We rest tomorrow, and on Friday we travel to London to play the game. We’ll see maybe Friday and Saturday how the people react, and the mood.
“Of course, the recovery after winning is easier than after losing, but it is what it is.
“This is a semifinal of the FA Cup and we will try to compete as best as possible.”
Goals in each half from Rodrygo and Kevin De Bruyne tied the game with Real Madrid at 4-4 on aggregate.
It took a penalty shootout to decide who progressed to the semifinals, with Antonio Rudiger scoring the winner after Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic had missed for City.
“That’s football,” Guardiola said of the result, after his side was seen to have dominated the game but failed to convert that into goals.
“In this competition, that’s the way football happens, that’s football.
“In other sports or statistics, we would have won, but it is a marvellous thing about football that this happens.”
City were looking at the prospect of a second treble in as many seasons, but now have two trophies to play for.
They turn their focus to the FA Cup at the weekend, and then to the Premier League where they top the table following recent slip-ups by Liverpool and Arsenal.