Man City’s ‘bad season’ cannot be salvaged reveals Pep Guardiola

The City boss says consistency in the Premier League is how he measures a season’s success and qualifying for the Champions League will still make this year a ‘bad’ one

Pep Guardiola revealed that securing Champions League football won't be enough to save Man City's season (EPA)

Pep Guardiola says that this season has been ‘bad’ for Manchester City and no results from now until the end of the season will be able to change that.

City defeated Aston Villa 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening to move up to third in the Premier League after Matheus Nunes’ 94th minute winner which puts the team one step closer to securing Champions League football next year.

The club are also in the FA Cup semi-finals and can end the season with some silverware despite their struggles to challenge for the league title.

Guardiola, who praised his team’s performance against Villa, revealed that he believes this season cannot be salvaged by winning a trophy and that consistency in the Premier League is the only thing that defines success for him.

“The season has been bad,” he told Sky Sports in the aftermatch of City’s win over Villa, “It’s not going to happen in the last month and a half.

“The season has not been good, it doesn’t matter if we reach the final [of the FA Cup], or have an incredible time against Nottingham Forest or qualify for the Champions League.

“The reality is that what makes you feel the season is good is the Premier League, not the Champions League, not the FA Cups, it is the consistency in the Premier League and we have not been [consistent]. But, it happens. Sometimes you have bad seasons for many reasons that everybody knows. Until the end you try to limit the damage. ”

Pep Guardiola was overjoyed at the final whistle (Getty Images)

Guardiola then explained why he was so animated on the touchline following Nunes’ winning goal and claimed he is not accustomed to winning games so late on.

The City boss added: “I think the last-minute winning games belong to Liverpool especially how many times they did it under Jurgen [Klopp] and Arsenal with Mikel [Arteta]. We are not used to it so I’m really happy for the goal we scored at the end because we are into the last four or five games against a Champions League contender like Aston Villa.

“Aston Villa are a team that in the last month have proved they are one of the best teams in Europe and we played really good in all departments.

“Football is emotion, for the fans, for the players, for ourselves. We have a lot of pressure for the club. In the last two games, Everton away and here with Villa were so difficult and the players were unbelievable.

“I was so happy, I have to admit it. Football, if you are in this business, you live the disappointments but there are always good moments. The team fought a lot, the performance was really good. It’s a fantastic team and we were able to do it.”