Pep Guardiola: ‘Everybody knows we are living something special’

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game

Pep Guardiola left Selhurst Park on Saturday knowing his Manchester City side were on the brink of another Premier League title, and satisfied their display had shown just why there is no danger of the Etihad Stadium trophy room gathering cobwebs any time soon.

Fresh from the impressive display in the Parc Des Princes that gave City a 2-1 advantage ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg with Paris Saint-Germain, Guardiola showcased the depth of his fearsomely strong squad to secure the victory that took them within touching distance of the Premier League title.

The transition wasn’t seamless with the revamped line-up taking 45 minutes to settle, but the quality of the eight players drafted in meant the result was never likely to be in doubt. Equally notable was the noise generated in the empty stadium by those players seated behind the visiting dug-out that spoke of a squad united in its aim of delivering success.

Winning helps, but the displays of Sergio Aguero, Raheem Sterling, and others shows Guardiola has handled a group of outstanding players carefully and successfully while the displays of Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake suggested they are ready to progress from the role of fringe players next season.

The City boss has shuffled his pack more than any other Premier League manager this season, finding the right combinations to kick-start his club’s season after a testing start to the extent that a once intriguing championship race turned into a procession.

Aguero and Torres provided the goals — scored in rapid succession with Torres’s strike coming just 83 seconds after Aguero’s 57th-minute opening goal — that killed off any wild hopes Manchester United might have had that their near neighbours could be gripped by nerves in the run-in while strengthening Guardiola’s belief his team can add European success to their domestic triumphs.

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring their side's first goal of the game

“Everybody knows we are living something special,” said the Catalan. “We are one step to be champion again. Three times in four years, in this country, is something more than remarkable. We’ve got a semi-final of the Champions League to reach a final for the first time.

“We have to do our job on Tuesday and make an almost perfect performance to reach the final. We are playing a team with the most talented players up front. They can win the games in one single action.

We have to play as a team with incredible mentality to play to win. We have to be more aggressive to try to win the game. That’s why the commitment for everyone is there.

Aguero declared himself ready to face PSG after scoring only his second Premier League goal of an injury-affected season that showed the forward is determined to see out his final weeks at the club in style while Sterling and Aymeric Laporte also drew praise from his boss.

It is unlikely Guardiola will deviate from his original plans for this week, but he was in no doubt they pressed their claims.

“Eight players didn’t play in Paris and they were sad. Happy for the team but they were sad for not playing. Imagine you want to do your job but a guy tells you that you can’t. It’s so tough for me, so tough for them.

“The best way to answer me, prove me wrong and feel guilty, is on the grass. On the green. Today they did it. That’s why every player can be sad and complain. They are right. They don’t have to talk on social media, behind the scenes or with their agent. They talk on the grass.

That is why we’re on 80 points, semis of Champions League, four Carabaos Cups in a row.