Why Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City are on the hunt for a quintuple of trophies this season

For all the talk that City are trying to win an unprecedented quadruple if they add the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, Guardiola sees it differently

Pep Guardiola believes that Manchester City are in the hunt for a quintuple this season, rather than a quadruple, because the Community Shield they won last August should count as a trophy.

City beat Chelsea 2-0 at Wembley at the start of the season, before beating the same team on penalties to win the Carabao Cup in February. For all the talk that City are trying to win an unprecedented quadruple if they add the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup, Guardiola sees it differently. For him it is not a case of one down, four to go, but rather two down, three to go.

“Always we had the feeling we won two titles this season so far, we have three to play,” Guardiola said. “So that is what we believe. But the people say all the time ‘just one title, one title.’”

Guardiola was smiling while he said this but it is also how he feels. Guardiola won three Spanish Super Cups at Barcelona, which were seen as major trophies, part of his famous haul of five trophies in the 2010-11 season. But the Community Shield he won at the start of this season is not widely accepted to count as one.

When asked why there was such a difference between the Community Shield and the Super Cup abroad, Guardiola said that he would like to know. “It was nice, but nobody counts it,” he said. “That is the question I would like to have an answer. The people say we won one title, [but] the Community Shield? Maybe it count for last season, but last season when we went on holidays, it was not in our pocket. Of course in Spain, in Germany, where I have been, the Super Cup is an important trophy. We were happy, of course. We know we won that title, the Community Shield, is a Super Cup in the rest of Europe, in the world. That is what it is.”

Guardiola even joked that if City hold on to win the Premier League then they might as well boycott the Community Shield – pencilled in for Sunday 4 August – if it does not ultimately count for anything. “OK, next season, if we are able to beat Liverpool and win the Premier League, next season we are not going to play the Community Shield,” he said. “Because why? It doesn’t count! It will be longer holidays in summer time, and we will fresh for the Premier League and Champions League.”