New wingers, fixture demands and cup finals – Pep Guardiola shines light on ‘difficult’ three weeks

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has welcomed a rare four-day hiatus for his squad, describing the past 21 days as a punishing stretch of “games every three days” that has tested the club’s physical reserves and mental resilience at a pivotal point of the campaign.

The pause, granted after automatic qualification to the Champions League last-16, arrives as City navigate an unforgiving schedule that has pitted domestic title skirmishes against knockout cup obligations. Guardiola’s side have emerged from the sequence with momentum intact: a 2-0 FA Cup fourth-round dismissal of Salford City on Sunday followed league performances that have kept the Premier League trophy in view and tightened the race with Arsenal.

Speaking after the Salford win, Guardiola underlined the stakes. “In the Premier League, if you lose a game, we are out,” he said. “So it has been so demanding, especially for the lack of recovery.”

Yet reinforcements are returning. Rodri is steadily regaining minutes, while summer signings Savio and Jeremy Doku are beginning to influence tight contests. Guardiola praised the Brazilian teenager’s raw talent—“When Savio will learn to make a finished product, in terms of assists, he will be an unbelievable winger, on both sides”—and highlighted Doku’s capacity to unlock deep-lying defences with direct dribbling.

The Catalan coach admitted the performance against League Two opposition was below par, but insisted he was “more than delighted with how the team behaves.” He ordered his players to switch off until Wednesday afternoon, when focus must snap back ahead of the next Premier League assignment: Newcastle United’s visit to the Etihad.

Guardiola stressed that the margin for error has vanished. “When you arrive in the last three months, three months and a half, the end of the season, with being in competitions, every game is a final,” he said. “A final is not Carabao Cup just against Arsenal, every single game is a final.”

City’s recent comeback victory at Liverpool, hailed within the camp as evidence of their readiness for high-pressure occasions, bolsters belief that the squad can sustain a four-front assault. With key players returning, wingers growing in influence and a collective mood sharpened by the calendar, Guardiola is convinced the champions-in-waiting will be “ready” when the run-in begins in earnest.