Man City are set to face Nottingham Forest in the semi-final of the FA Cup on Sunday, April 27, at Wembley Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s squad have not been in their usual stride in the ongoing season. With their elimination from the Champions League and dropping from the Premier League title race, the FA Cup is the only hope of silverware for City apart from the FIFA Club World Cup.
Man City have maintained a good record in the FA Cup over the past few years. Including this season, they have reached eight semi-finals and lifted the trophy twice since Guardiola took charge in 2016.
With seven consecutive semi-finals now, it is safe to say, Man City have an upper hand when it comes to experience in the FA Cup in comparison to their upcoming opponents, Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest’s last FA Cup semi-final marked to be back in 1991, and later, they were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur in the final.
Now, ahead of this season’s FA Cup semi-final, Guardiola hailed his squad’s run in the competition over the years while pointing out the hardships that came with it.
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What Pep Guardiola said ahead of Man City’s FA Cup semi-final?
Guardiola highlighted (comments via Manchester Evening News) City’s successive qualifications and achievements in the FA Cup over the season amid packed schedules with fixtures in other competitions. The Catalan manager pointed out how the results of the other games against prominent names took its toll but his players consistently delivered.
“It’s an incredible achievement because it’s every year, every year, every year. You know how difficult it is in the league to win a championship, but you can drop, you can lose,” he said.
“We play semi-finals coming two or three days before most of the times, playing away Champions League quarterfinals with a big disappointment being out or big success and no recovery, playing against Liverpool and Chelsea and so on.
“So, it’s not easy to, you know, to cope sometimes for that. Even with that, all the time we were there, so we break our own record we had last season six in a row, so now seven. So it’s not easy, I’m sorry because this is what this club or this team, these legendary players have shown during a lot of time,” concluded Guardiola.
Man City and Nottingham Forest have faced each other on 95 occasions and have a close margin. Guardiola’s side have bagged 38 wins, while Forest have managed 32 victories, with the other 25 matches ending in a draw.
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