Treble winners turn their focus to becoming the first English men’s club to claim a double-double in FA Cup semi-final at Wembley

Chelsea beware: at 5.15pm on Saturday Pep Guardiola expects Manchester City to show precisely how little sorrow they feel for themselves after being dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid .

The FA Cup semi-final comes 72 hours after Wednesday’s penalty shootout heartbreak and, maybe, too soon for Mauricio Pochettino’s team as a smarting City aim to forget their lost double-treble and take another step in their bid to become the first English men’s club to claim a double-double.

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Young midfielder was player of the match against Real Madrid and is now trusted by Pep Guardiola to be centre stage

If you weren’t an experienced Pep Guardiola watcher, you might have assumed there was something seriously wrong with Phil Foden’s spectacular goal at the Bernabéu on Tuesday night . Finger jabbing, face creased with aggression, Guardiola strode on to the pitch to clutch Foden’s face with such vigour that he not only squished Foden’s cheeks but made his ears flap. But that’s just Guardiola showing affection.

Perhaps it is because he sees something of himself in Foden. Johan Cruyff would tell the story of looking for a technically skilful holding midfielder in the Barcelona reserves in 1990. “They told me this boy Pep was the best, so I looked for him in the B team but he didn’t play. I looked for him in the youth team but he didn’t play. Eventually I found him in the third team. I said to the coaches: ‘You said he was the best?!’ And they said: ‘Yeah, but physically …’ And I said: ‘He will grow.’” Citing the mantra that if you’re good enough, you’re big enough, Cruyff took Guardiola into the first team and made him the pivotal player of the team that won four successive La Liga titles and the 1992 European Cup .

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• Manager says teams similar level despite City’s 5-1 win last year
• Hosts ask permission to close stadium roof for vocal atmosphere

Pep Guardiola wants Manchester City to “hurt and punish” Real Madrid in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu, with the hosts asking Uefa’s permission to close the stadium roof to ensure as vocal an atmosphere as possible.

City knocked Real out of last year’s semi-finals 5-1 on aggregate, which included a 4-0 hammering of Carlo Ancelotti’s team in the second leg at the Etihad Stadium. Guardiola believes that despite the result City and Real are at a similar level. On Tuesday night he wants the holders to take the initiative.

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• Foden lights up Manchester City’s 4-1 win over Villa
• Guardiola: ‘What can I say? He can do whatever he wants’

A delighted Pep Guardiola said Phil Foden has “goals in his veins” after his hat-trick in Manchester City’s emphatic 4-1 win against Aston Villa on Wednesday that drew the champions level with Liverpool on 67 points, one behind Arsenal.

Rodri opened the scoring for City at the Etihad Stadium. Jhon Durán equalised on 20 minutes before Foden took over, registering in first-half added time, then on 62 and 69 minutes. It was the 23-year-old playmaker’s second ­treble of the season.

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• Klopp’s side top table after Manchester City’s draw with Arsenal
• ‘Always who is first is favourites. It’s not in our hands’

Pep Guardiola said that Liverpool are now favourites for the Premier League title with nine matches left after Manchester City’s goalless draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Brighton 2-1 at Anfield earlier in the day to leave Jürgen Klopp’s side two points ahead of Arsenal and three of the champions. Each have only 27 points left to play for and Guardiola was asked if Liverpool are now in prime position.

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• City manager believes Sunday’s Etihad showdown is a ‘final’
• ‘To fight for one title that you haven’t won for many years is easy’

Pep Guardiola says Arsenal’s visit is “the final” of their title run-in, with the Manchester City manager claiming his side’s bid to retain the Premier League is far more difficult than Arsenal’s “easy” task of becoming champions after so many years.

City stand a point behind Arsenal, who lead Liverpool on goal difference, with 10 matches left. Mikel Arteta’s team won October’s reverse fixture 1-0 in pursuit of the club’s first league title since 2004 and Guardiola is conscious of how crucial Sunday’s meeting is as he aims to lead City to a record fourth ­successive championship.

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• Full-back says club ‘ungrateful’ after he helped win two titles
• £60m signing on loan at Barcelona after spell at Bayern Munich

João Cancelo has accused Manchester City of being “ungrateful” and claimed “lies were told” about his exit from the club.

The Portugal full-back is on a season-long loan at Barcelona after a spell at Bayern Munich in the second half of last term. Cancelo had been a key part of manager Pep Guardiola’s squad until shortly before his unexpected, deadline-day departure for Germany in January 2023.

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• Manager aggrieved after Jérémy Doku’s high challenge
• Pep Guardiola: early second-half pressure was a ‘tsunami’

Jürgen Klopp claimed Liverpool proved they can “go the distance” in the title race with their impressive recovery against Manchester City but was bewildered at the failure to award his team a stoppage-time penalty at Anfield.

The Liverpool manager described his injury-hit team’s second-half display as the best he has witnessed against Pep Guardiola’s champions and evidence they will take City and Arsenal to the wire this season. Alexis Mac Allister earned Liverpool a point from the penalty spot after John Stones had given the visitors a first-half lead.

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Pep Guardiola may look to minimise the threat of Darwin Núñez while John Stones could have a pivotal role

Pep Guardiola sides have always had a vulnerability to balls played in behind their defensive line. It is inherent in the high press that makes his teams so good at regaining possession: you cannot have one without the other (which is one of football’s enduring strengths as a sport: no positive comes entirely without a negative; there is no “best” way to play).

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