Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City had already started thinking about their cup finals before their final Premier League games.
City were crowned champions last weekend when Arsenal lost at Nottingham Forest and their starting XIs for the final three Premier League matches have been at less than full strength. A 1-0 win over Chelsea was followed by a 1-1 draw at Brighton and a 1-0 defeat at Brentford on the final day, the five points dropped in their last two matches more than in their previous 13.
Even if the results have not been there, Guardiola has still been happy with the performance levels showed by a team that was always expected to drop off to some degree once they had won the league. On top of that, there are other considerations as the Blues weigh up a potential Treble with finals to come in the FA Cup and Champions League.
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In those circumstances, Guardiola was pleased with what the players showed in the final league games of the season. Had Arsenal still been pushing them, the City boss is confident they would have taken the points.
Guardiola said: "We have to admit that when we talk about Brighton and Brentford we would always say 'oh i saw 20 minutes of Inter', 'I saw United again'. It's normal once you get the title.
"It has not been easy for the players either but we made two incredible games - the results were not ideal but I'm pretty sure we would have been a little bit different than if we needed the points to be champions. The players need rest and to recharge their batteries for the last two finals."
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