Pep Guardiola dismisses Oleksandr Zinchenko's claim that Man City can win Quadruple this season
Manchester City face Borussia Monchengladbach in second leg of Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday; City 14 points clear in Premier League and still in both domestic cups; Pep Guardiola: "I am older than Mr Zinchenko, I have more experience and I do not agree with him"
Monday 15 March 2021 15:51, UK
Pep Guardiola has dismissed Oleksandr Zinchenko's claim that Manchester City can win the Quadruple this season, saying it is unrealistic to expect his side to achieve the feat.
City are clear favourites to reclaim the Premier League title after establishing a 14-point lead at the top of the table and will play Tottenham in the final of the Carabao Cup next month, while they are in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and hold a 2-0 lead over Borussia Monchengladbach at the halfway stage of their last-16 Champions League tie.
Ahead of the second leg against Gladbach on Tuesday, Zinchenko said he believed City could win every competition in which they are playing this season and cited the successes of last season's Bayern Munich and Guardiola's Barca, both of whom won the Treble.
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While a small number of European sides have won four trophies in a season, none have won the league title, both domestic cups and the Champions League since it was revamped in 1992.
Asked whether he agreed with Zinchenko's assessment of his team's chances, Guardiola said: "I am older than Mr Zinchenko, I have more experience and I do not agree with him.
"Zinchenko has to be worried about doing a good game tomorrow and trying to go through. This is the only way.
"Four titles never happened before and I think it's not going to happen. The reality is this. If you ask me if I agree with Zinchenko I would say no, completely not."
City's dominant form this season - they have won 23 of their last 24 games - has led to debate over whether this is the best side Guardiola has had since becoming manager in 2016.
Completing the Quadruple would outdo the City side of 2018/19 that won the domestic treble but could only reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
However, when asked how his current City side compared to his previous ones, Guardiola said: "Right now it's worse than the previous ones because the previous ones won a lot. This team, this year, didn't win anything.
"We are evaluated for the results, for the success, for the titles we can lift. That's why this team still has to prove it."
Pep: Nothing happened with Sterling
City's game against Gladbach will come just three days after their 3-0 victory at Fulham - a game that did not feature Raheem Sterling, who was left out of the squad at Craven Cottage.
The England winger has been a regular at City for a number of seasons and his absence prompted speculation of a rift between him and Guardiola.
However, Sterling dismissed those claims as "false" on social media on Sunday, and Guardiola backed up his player's version of events on Monday.
"He doesn't need to do it [deny the reports]," Guardiola said. "Nothing happened. He was not selected, that's all.
"Sometimes during the season, for example when we travelled to Stamford Bridge, we had 14 players. In that position it's easy to do selection and everybody is happy.
"When you have 20 top-class players who have had incredible success in the recent past… I trust all of them, I love all of them. They are the reason why we are in the position we are in."
Guardiola confirmed Sterling will be part of the squad to take on Gladbach, with the game taking place in Budapest due to coronavirus restrictions on travellers returning to Germany from the UK.
"He travels with the team, of course," said Guardiola. "Always him and all the players train and react really well.
"I don't expect they are happy, the guys who are not selected. It's normal. All the players respect my decisions. I never found in my career a player who is happy when they don't play. But they react really well."
