Manchester City are on the brink of securing Champions League football and have a trophy to aim for on 17 May
Pep Guardiola said that Manchester City would play four finals from now till the end of the season. He was referring of course to City’s last four fixtures in the Premier League run-in – Wolves, Southampton, Bournemouth and Fulham – fixtures which would see them secure Champions League football next season.
Wolves, their next opponents, are one of the most in-form sides in Europe currently, with six successive wins in their last six.
“The quality they have, the shape they play and the courage [they have], it’s no surprise,” said Pep of Vitor Pereira’s side. “Wolves always have really good players and now they have an incredible run.”
“Similar to when Newcastle came a month ago and Aston Villa came recently. It’s another final for us. Maybe the most important game we have ahead of us.
“We have four finals [in the Premier League].”
The Sky Blues welcome Wolves to the Etihad not on a bad run of form themselves. They’ve won five of their last six in all competitions, the one match they didn’t win being their uneventful draw with Manchester United in the derby in early April.
The latest of those wins came last Sunday when City defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 in the FA Cup semi-finals, making it the third straight time they are reaching the final of the competition.
With City’s recent form, there is no doubt that they can match and possibly overpower Wolves at the Etihad on Friday night. Winning that game and a couple or all of those other finals would secure a place among Europe’s elite once more, and victory over Crystal Palace at Wembley on 17 May, a not-unimaginable feat, would secure a trophy to continue the almost unbroken chain of successful seasons over the last 13 years.
For all that has been said of their season, that would indeed make this way more than a reasonable campaign for Pep Guardiola’s team.
