Manchester City visits Newcastle this Tuesday in the first leg of the League Cup, or Carabao Cup, semi-finals, and coach Pep Guardiola stressed that he has long advocated a one-game semi-final model.
Eddie Howe said earlier that City are one of the worst teams to face in two-legged ties: “Manchester City are the most difficult team in the country to face in a two-legged tie. Pep will have something prepared for us from a tactical point of view and we will have to be at our best to be able to progress. Of course, the natural preference is for the home game to be the second leg, because that way we have a clear idea of what needs to be done and we count on the support of our public, but this time it won’t be like that.”
Guardiola joked. “I didn’t even sleep last night thinking about how my genius could come up with a plan for Eddie Howe and Newcastle,” he joked, before getting more serious.
“It’s been many years since Eddie Howe took charge and look how many games they’ve won in the last few minutes — the push from the stands. It’s always been like this for a long time. That stadium is special. Playing semi-finals against Arsenal or Chelsea would be as difficult as playing against Newcastle. I don’t think it should be any different,” he explained.
Guardiola also spoke about the impact of Antoine Semenyo, who signed from Bournemouth this week, played immediately in the Cup tie at the weekend, in which City beat Exeter 10-0. «The impression I got was that he is a very good person. The few actions he showed were those he had already shown at Bournemouth and we hope he can continue to do so here.”
As for whether he found the result difficult, for the Spaniard it was just work: «I don’t attach much importance to it nor would I say it’s something special. We just do our job. The best way to respect is to do what we do.”
