"We lost 3 Community Shields in a row! But we won the Premier Leagues" - Pep Guardiola makes cheeky claim after loss to Arsenal
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gave a cheeky response when asked about his side's Community Shield defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, August 6. The Cityzens fell to a 4-1 defeat in a penalty shoot-out after the game finished 1-1 in normal time.
Interestingly, City lost their last two Community Shield matches as well and yet went on to win the Premier League title in those seasons. Referring to that record, Guardiola said in his post-match press conference (via Mirror):
"We lost three [Community Shields] in a row! But we won the Premier Leagues.”
Guardiola also praised the Manchester City players for maintaining the intensity, especially after a long last season that saw them win the European treble. He added:
“The team behaved unbelievably. In the second half, the last minutes, attacking players were there and they pushed a lot and it’s normal.
“We are not the NBA that when you finish you have three months off to recover. Not here, especially here. In good seasons or bad seasons it didn’t happen. You have to adapt and that’s why I’m surprised how good we behaved. We faced an extraordinary team. It happened last season and it happened again.
“We were close and we are a little bit disappointed for the final result but it’s football. If you can’t win you can bring minutes to the players and I’m thinking of Friday, when we are going to Burnley to play.”
Substitute Cole Palmer gave City the lead in the 77th minute but a late push from Arsenal saw Leandro Trossard score with the help of a deflection deep into injury time.
The shoot-out that followed saw Kevin De Bruyne and Rodri miss for the Cityzens, while all four of Mikel Arteta's picks converted to give the Gunners their first trophy of the season.
Pep Guardiola expecting a tough Premier League season for Manchester City
Pep Guardiola conceded after the Community Shield showdown with Arsenal that the 2023/24 Premier League season could be a tough one for his side.
Guardiola believes multiple teams can challenge for the league title in the upcoming term. He said during the post-match conference:
"There are a lot of teams that are going to fight for everything and the challenge is massive for us. You cannot win more than we won, it's impossible. But the challenge is how hungry we are and if we still have the desire to defend what we won.”
City begin their Premier League title defense on Friday, August 11, with a trip to Turf Moor to face Burnley.