Guardiola rates Man City’s season despite Champions League qualification boost

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has claimed the club has had a bad season even if they manage to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

City took a big step towards securing European qualification with their 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Tuesday thanks to Matheus Nunes’s 94th-minute strike.

Victory against Villa saw Man City climb two spots to third in the league table, however, the defending Premier League champion are still 18 points behind leaders Liverpool.

City’s goal of capturing an historic fifth consecutive league title has come to an end as a win for Liverpool in their next match against Tottenham Hotspur will confirm them as the new champion.

“This season has been bad,” Guardiola said. “It doesn’t matter whether we reach the [FA Cup] final, or qualification for the Champions League. The reality is that what determines, what makes you feel the season is good is the Premier League, not the Champions League, not FA Cups. It’s that consistency in the Premier League.

“But it happens, sometimes you have bad seasons. The level of the teams [in the Premier League] is outstanding.”

Pep Guardiola celebrates after Matheus Nunes scores the winning goal against Aston Villa FC (Photo by Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images)

Guardiola, whose team face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday, celebrated with clenched fists and a roar of delight after Nunes fired home from a tight angle from Jérémy Doku’s low cross through the box

“I was so happy. I have to admit it,” Guardiola said.

“We have a lot of pressure for the club to go to the Champions League” “If we win the next four games, it will have been so important,” he added.

Victory moved City up to 61 points and above Nottingham Forest in fourth and Newcastle in fifth. Chelsea are sixth and Villa, with 57 points, are seventh.

Both City and Villa have played a game more than their top-five rivals. But City know a perfect record from its remaining four league games would guarantee a place in next season’s Champions League