Pep

This particular run of seven games will define City’s season on all four fronts – losing twice against Real means their trophy prospects have been reduced to three.

That could be down to two on Sunday with a huge clash against the Gunners, who are hungry to rid their tags of ‘nearly men’ by ending a trophy drought which stretches back to 2020.

“On Monday [after Carabao Cup final] hopefully we will wake up and it is a sunny day,” said Guardiola. “It is not crucial, it is a football game, we are going to try to win with a good performance.

“We will challenge against the best team in England so far, the best team in Europe because look at their results in the group phase, they were first and have lost three or four games all season. We will challenge them and we have to see how we are competing against them.”

City were held to a surprise 1-1 draw at relegation strugglers West Ham, which has left them nine points off the pace in the Premier League with eight games to go – and a monumental effort is required to overturn that particular deficit.

And the FA Cup is no formality either, with City hosting rivals Liverpool in the quarter-final on Saturday 4 April after the international break, with league games immediately after against Chelsea and Arsenal.

Guardiola said: “After one or two weeks, we play against them in the Premier League and it is a good mirror to see what we have to do to achieve [like] them. I am old enough to see that one football game is not the big happiness or a loss is the end of the world, it’s just a game.

“In the end, the results have not been good except Newcastle but I have the feeling we are an extraordinary team with many, many, many good things that I love.

“We are still not complete, we are not aware in certain moments and departments, we have to be more clinical but my feeling is it is a question of time.”

“We changed to make the players more dynamic, with Rayan, Jeremy [Doku] and Phil [Foden],” Guardiola told his post-match news conference. “But we could not win the game.

“We could be more aggressive in the first half maybe, but with the creativity, the crosses and dribbles this season, we are struggling. The team, they did everything, but they need to be better in the final third, and it has happened in many games this season.”

Asked about picking Semenyo over Cherki as number 10, he said: “Absolutely, for that role there is no-one better than [Cherki]. That is bad selection, you can criticise me, I deserve it.

“Sometimes for the balance, we are learning. We played Cherki and Haaland – incredible, but we do not have the stability teams in the Premier League must have. I try to handle that, and the team is still growing.

“Rayan’s impact off the bench is unbelievable, but sometimes he does not have the pace so we play Semenyo. I am still finding the best way to have stability and to balance the team.”

Haaland’s form is thrown into sharp focus by the fact he struggled against West Ham, a team against who he has scored 11 Premier League goals – more than any other side.

“It’s not about the lack of goals,” Guardiola said of the Norway striker. “We need to create more. He will be back.”

City cannot win well, and they struggle to win ugly too.

They have only lost once in their past 18 league matches, but during that period they have given up 10 points from winning positions – enough to cost them first place in the current standings.

In games where they were winning, they have drawn with Chelsea, Brighton, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and now West Ham.

Given the latter came a couple of hours after Arsenal, starring Max Dowman, spectacularly dug out victory over Everton, this one will sting.

Guardiola laughed it off afterwards, saying he had been having a beer pre-match rather than following the Arsenal match with his team, as he served a touchline ban.

He also joked he would look to get more yellow cards as he preferred the view from the stands – and light-heartedly batted away a question on whether Haaland was limping.

It felt like if Guardiola didn’t laugh, he would cry.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is facing a two-game touchline ban after being booked for the sixth time this season during Saturday’s FA Cup win at Newcastle.

Guardiola was shown a yellow card after confronting fourth official Lewis Smith on the touchline at St James’ Park after Kieran Trippier had fouled City’s Jeremy Doku.

New regulations introduced this season mean Premier League managers are suspended for one game once they have received three yellow cards, while six cautions will result in a two-match ban.

The ban applies to league and FA Cup games but not European games or domestic cup finals, meaning Guardiola will be on the touchline for the Carabao Cup final with Arsenal on 22 March.

However, the Spaniard will have to sit out next Saturday’s Premier League fixture with West Ham and City’s FA Cup quarter-final clash on the weekend of 4-5 April, with the draw yet to be made for that round.

After the win at Newcastle, Guardiola said of his angry reaction that led to his booking: “I will tell you something – we have all the records in this country, all of them, despite everything.

“We have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I want all records and now I have it, two-game ban now and I will go on holidays the next two games.

“There are things after 10 years I cannot understand. Review the action. Of course I’m going to defend Doku and all my teams.”

Former Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney hopes Pep Guardiola will stay at Manchester City beyond this season because he has set “a benchmark” for all other managers.

The 55-year-old has been in charge of City since 2016 and led them to six Premier League titles, while they are in with a chance of a seventh this season.

However, there is uncertainty over whether Guardiola will still be manager next season, with the expectation that a decision on his future will be made towards – or after – the end of this campaign.

“Some players will want him to leave, some will want him to stay, it depends whether you are in the team or not and that is the same for any manager,” said Rooney on the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show.

“I hope he stays because he is brilliant for the Premier League and you want the best managers in the Premier League.

“He has set a benchmark over the past 10 years for everyone else.”

In December, former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was heavily linked with a return to City, where he previously worked as a coach under Guardiola.