Cape Town - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola praised his young side on Tuesday after they made it through to the last four of the League Cup following a penalty shootout win over Leicester City, while dismissing talk of the quadruple.
City were the spot kick lottery winners as Jamie Vardy and Rihad Mahrez missed their kicks, with the game forced into extra-time after a controversial Vardy penalty well into injury time had seen Leicester cancel out Bernardo Silva’s opener.
The result left Guardiola pleased with the way his youthful team had handled the situation.
“Penalty or no penalty what is important was how we reacted,” said Guardiola.
“We could go down because it is the last minute, especially with a lot of young players, but from first minute of extra time we tried to win. We had two solutions, complaining or say, ‘Okay, we face that situation and move forward.’ We went forward again.
City are now in the last-four of the League Cup, have an 11-point lead in the Premier League, and will get their Champions League campaign back underway in February, while the FA Cup is yet to start.
But Guardiola was quick to dismiss any talk of City lifting all four pieces of silverware.
“That isn't going to happen, of course not,” he said.
“That is not real. That is not normal.
“In football you lose games, you drop points. I am not thinking about how many titles. I am thinking about recovery and the next game. In the process you enjoy the moments. There is no sense waiting.
“I am so happy. Of course, we want to go through. We cannot play four competitions with the same players so we made changes.
“It was not best performance ever, but for the young guys it will be a real good experience for the future. In the end Leicester replayed the full team, and we handled it.”