Pep Guardiola insists League Cup win has no impact on title race, but is nevertheless pleased to one-up Mikel Arteta’s team
Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City’s victory over Arsenal in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final will have little impact on the outcome of the Premier League title race.
City secured a 2-0 victory at Wembley thanks to two second-half headers from Nico O’Reilly, handing Guardiola his fifth League Cup success in a decade and ending his recent trophy drought.
The final was an intriguing contest between manager and apprentice in Guardiola and Mikel Arteta, but more than that, it was also billed as a sub-plot of the Premier League title race between Arsenal and City, respectively first and second in the Premier League.
What it means. pic.twitter.com/LO3fYDbkyN
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 22, 2026
Pundits have questioned whether losing the final to City might have an impact on Arsenal’s mentality in the run-in, as well as giving City a psychological boost having also got the better of the Gunners in the title race in 2022-23 and 2023-24. But Guardiola doesn’t think so.
“I would like to be nine points in front to fight for the Premier League,” City’s coach said. “I don’t think it will have an impact, different competition and they will be more concerned when they come to the Etihad.
“The Premier League is in their hands. We have a game in hand and Arsenal at home, and we are going to try to win our games, and we will see what happens.”
The two sides will meet again at the Etihad on 19 April in a fixture that could prove decisive for the title. If City were to win their game in hand and then win that match in April, it would leave just three points between them and Arsenal with five games to go.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 22, 2026
Despite his insistence that it has no impact on the race for the trophy that Guardiola would truly like to win this season, he admitted his pleasure at pipping Arteta’s side to the Carabao Cup.
“They suffocated us in the first 15 minutes like they normally do, but after that we started to win a little bit of the second balls,” Guardiola said. “We made an incredible victory.
“The Carabao Cup is not the Champions League or the Premier League, everyone knows that, but winning against that team makes the title special.”
