Pep Guardiola has insisted Manchester City will not give up on the Premier League title as they prepare to face West Ham United at the London Stadium on Saturday night.
City head into the game on the back of a 3-0 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid in midweek and find themselves seven points behind leaders Arsenal with around 10 games to play. The pressure is on Guardiola’s side to keep winning and hope the Gunners slip up.
The City boss was quick to shift focus away from the Madrid loss and onto the task at hand. “Tomorrow night is important for the Premier League. We are used to these situations. Now there are no second chances,” he said.
Guardiola confirmed that Erling Haaland is available to start before addressing the mentality of his squad in the final run-in. “When you win a lot of titles, every game is important. We will fight until the end. My mind is on West Ham and Nuno,” he said, making clear that the Champions League exit was already in the past.
On the wider struggles of Premier League clubs in European competition this week, Guardiola acknowledged it had been a difficult few days for English football but stopped short of any major alarm.
“It is not the first time it has been hard. I am sure we are an incredible league. In a one-off game anything can happen,” he said.
Reflecting briefly on the Real Madrid defeat, Guardiola felt his side performed well before the goals arrived. “In the first half before the goal, we played exceptionally and were a threat. Then the quality of Valverde made it a completely different game. We conceded a penalty which I am sorry was not a penalty. We had a clear chance but Courtois made an incredible save,” he added.
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