Manchester City's season is not over with Champions League left to win, insists Gary Neville
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Manchester United legend Gary Neville has admitted that Manchester City's season is not over with them still in for the FA Cup and Champions League. The Cityzens won their third consecutive EFL Cup on Sunday and are still in the running for a treble including the FA Cup and Champions League.
Last season saw Manchester City pip their worthy contenders Liverpool to the league title, with just one point separating the two giants. A similar battle for the English title was expected from the two, but Liverpool have outclassed every opponent to the title and collected a massive 22 points lead with it is almost impossible to not see them clinch the title this time around.Â
Guardiola’s side, on the other hand, created history after they lifted a hattrick of EFL Cup trophies on Sunday night, as they edged past Aston Villa with a 2-1 victory in the final. But speaking on his podcast, Neville went on to empathise with Manchester City and claimed that this season hasn’t lost the potential of being their “best”. He also added that they're wounded as a club but this City side is still an excellent one as the win against Real Madrid showed.
"It could be their best season if they win the Champions League. What's happened with UEFA makes them dangerous. They're wounded as a club, maybe they needed that in some ways, over the last few years in the Champions League they've always looked like they're not quite ready but I have to say, I thought that performance at Real Madrid was excellent, with a different level of feeling in it," Neville said on his podcast.
It was difficult imagining a close result of this sorts again Dean Smith’s Aston Villa but a few mistakes here and there and inability to trouble the score line after a first half domination saw Villa lift their morale and challenge City. Guardiola introduced eight changes to the line that visited Madrid, with just Walker, Gundogan and Rodri retained in the starting 11. Aguero came from the bench to break the deadlock with Rodri netting the lead clincher.
Neville though appreciated the Etihad outfit for coming on the pitch with an unfamiliar line and he believes they won’t dwell on the League Cup victory too much. The team is taken aback by their foggy future as far as it concerns the Champions League with City coming teasingly close to the European title last term, were eliminated in a hard fought battle against Spurs who had a dream run under Pochettino.Â
"They've built some squad. Guardiola's record in finals is fantastic, he's addicted to winning and the mentality they have at the moment is one that's difficult - they're not going to win the league this season, but they've still got momentum and are winning trophies. This won't give them confidence, they're already confident, but it'll make them think 'we're still winners'. They've dropped off in the league, Liverpool have been absolutely outstanding and they're going to have to watch the Premier League title be given somewhere else," he added.
