The Times - UK (2020-06-29)

Pep Guardiola believes that winning
the FA Cup would provide his
Manchester City side with the perfect
preparation in their quest to lift the
Champions League trophy.
Guardiola’s side will face Arsenal in
the semi-finals on the weekend of
July 18 and 19 after their comfortable
2-0 victory over Newcastle United.
Kevin De Bruyne has resolved
City’s problems from the penalty spot.
He put Guardiola’s side ahead from 12
yards out in the 36th minute, before
Raheem Sterling secured their win
midway through the second half.
Guardiola’s side, who had
82 per cent possession in the first half,

Manchester City are set to complete

the signing of Pablo Moreno, the

Spain youth international striker,

from Juventus this week.

Moreno, 18, will join City in a swap

deal, with the Portuguese winger

Félix Correia leaving the Etihad and

heading in the opposite direction.

Moreno, below, has agreed a four-

year deal with City and is expected to

be sent out on loan to one of the

club’s sister teams, most likely Girona

in Spain, next season. The Spanish

teenager is expected to arrive in

Manchester early this week.

Correia arrived in Turin for his

medical over the weekend and it

is anticipated that both clubs

will announce the deal has gone

through today.

Moreno is yet to play for Juventus’s

first team but City

regard him as a player

with huge potential.

Two years ago he

joined the Italian

club from

Barcelona,

where he

scored more

than 200

goals in five

years in the

Catalan club’s

fabled La

Masia

academy.

He has

played for

Spain’s Under-16,

Under-17 and

Under-18 sides.

Correia,

meanwhile, has been

on loan in Holland at the

Eredivisie club Alkmaar’s

under-21 team this

season, for whom he

has scored three

goals and set up

five more.

TOM RODDY

have already won the League Cup

this year and lead Real Madrid 2-1 in

their round-of-16 Champions League

tie, which will resume in August.

“We spoke after lockdown,”

Guardiola said. “We had two more

competitions [to play for] and we

make the first step today. It will be

good to arrive in Madrid in the right

conditions. To achieve the final will

be the best preparation.

“It was not easy to attack against a

team defending so deep but it was a

good performance. I am happy to go

back to London, to Wembley.

“After the defeat against Chelsea

[last week], now in the Premier

League we are struggling to focus. We

are close in the Champions League

and there is a gap. We are at

too passive. The second half we were

brighter. The big turning point came

when we could have equalised.”

City had missed five of seven

penalties this season before De

Bruyne was given the role, putting

City ahead on his 29th birthday. He

said City’s lift in performance levels

was a response to the 2-1 defeat by

Chelsea on Thursday.

“We started really well, were sharp

and put them under pressure,” the

Belgium midfielder said. “We should

have scored more. We had a few

problems with penalties this year. The

gaffer asked me to step up and I have

scored a couple now.

“We are professionals, we need to

keep going and after the loss at

Chelsea we wanted to respond in this

way. We are happy to be going to

Wembley. We started the game really

well and put them under pressure. We

didn’t give anything away until one

chance in the second half.”

Bruce called on the Premier League

to announce its decision on the

change of ownership at Newcastle,

with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment

Fund financing the £300 million

takeover. Concerns about the

country’s human-rights record have

been raised with the Premier League,

which has been running its owners’

and directors’ test for more than six

weeks. “Everybody needs a bit of

clarity,” Bruce said. “The Premier

League needs to make a decision

sooner rather than later. It is not

healthy for anybody.”

Wembley again and were winners last

season so that is so good. We are of

course preparing for Madrid now.”

Steve Bruce, the Newcastle

manager, lamented Fabian Schar’s

error as the defender pushed Gabriel

Jesus and gave away a penalty. The

substitute Dwight Gayle blazed over

the bar from six yards out in the

second half, a minute after replacing

Andy Carroll, and 90 seconds later

Sterling scored City’s second.

“When you play against teams like

this you can’t make the mistake we

did with the penalty. We’ve given

away a poor penalty,” Bruce said.

“You’ve got to do more with the ball

and we didn’t do enough of that in the

first half. We gave it away too cheaply.

“I thought in the first half we were

FA Cup will help prepare us for the big one, says Guardiola

City cruise into last four

the times | Monday June 29 2020 2GG 3

thegame

PAUL HIRST

Striker raised

by Barcelona to

leave Juventus

for the Etihad

f

ROBBIE JAY BARRATT/AMA/GETTY IMAGES