ZEN MASTER: WHY PEP GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO GIVE MIKEL ARTETA ANY TITLE ADVICE
Pep Guardiola speaks out: Read why he won't advise Mikel Arteta, City’s Real Madrid UCL draw, and the plan for Elland Road today.
Pep Guardiola doesn’t want to talk about the pressure of chasing the Premier League title. When someone asked if he had any advice for Mikel Arteta, he just shook his head. “I’m not here to give advice,” he said. “I don’t even remember what that kind of pressure feels like.”
Right now, Guardiola’s Manchester City are five points behind Arsenal, but they’ve got a game in hand. He knows all about tight races; he’s guided City to six titles, plus he’s racked up league trophies with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Arteta, meanwhile, is still hunting for his first.
City have clawed their way back into the fight lately, after a rough patch earlier this year when they only managed one win out of six. Now, people are talking about a dramatic finish to the season, but Guardiola isn’t interested in the hype. For him, it’s all about the next match. “Honestly, I don’t think about it,” he said. “When we went head-to-head with Liverpool a few years back, I didn’t realise it in the moment, and I don’t now. All I’m thinking about is Elland Road.”
On top of that, City just found out they’ll be facing Real Madrid again in the Champions League’s last 16. Guardiola knows the Spanish giants well; he’s faced them 11 times since taking over at City, including a win at the Bernabeu last December. He actually likes these big matchups. “The more you play the best, the more you learn and improve. It pushes the club to get better,” he said.
This time, City go into the Leeds game a bit fresher. For the first time in 2026, they’ve had a couple of weeks without a midweek fixture. Guardiola even gave the squad three days off after beating Newcastle last Saturday. “They’ve trained well these last few days. "Everyone's ready for Elland Road,” he said. “From September onwards, you never get long weeks. But when you do, you have to take advantage. Train less, recover more. That’s how you keep everyone sharp.”
HAALAND WATCH: ERLING HAALAND FACES A LATE FITNESS TEST BEFORE NOTTINGHAM FOREST CLASH
Erling Haaland is "feeling better!" Read Pep Guardiola’s injury update, the Forest lineup news, and the Real Madrid prep here.
Erling Haaland is feeling a lot better now, but he still needs to get checked after Manchester City’s training on Tuesday before they decide if he can face Nottingham Forest. He missed the Leeds game because he picked up a small knock in training last Thursday, and right after that match, Pep Guardiola didn’t have any updates on Haaland’s fitness.
Even though Haaland’s still not a sure thing for the Forest game, City are pretty hopeful he’ll be back after getting the weekend off. The same goes for Nico O’Reilly. He limped off with an ankle issue during the 1-0 win over Leeds, but he managed to join the recovery session on Sunday.
“Erling feels much better, but we didn’t train yesterday. We’ll see how he is in training today and then make a call,” Guardiola said at his Tuesday press conference.
The city handled things well without Haaland up front. Antoine Semenyo got the only goal, playing alongside Omar Marmoush. Guardiola didn’t seem too stressed before kickoff, either. “He had some problems and a little injury two days ago in training. Nothing serious, but he wasn’t ready today,” Pep said at Elland Road.
Other than that, City’s injury list isn’t too worrying as they keep chasing trophies. Jeremy Doku was back in the squad at Leeds for the first time since his injury, and Savinho came on in the second half, his first appearance since New Year’s Day.
Right now, only Mateo Kovačić and Josko Gvardiol are still out, but Guardiola’s positive about Kovačić since he’s started training again.
“It’s March, and we’re still in all the competitions. That’s special,” Guardiola said. “Last season, we were already out of the Champions League and FA Cup at this point. Now, it’s Newcastle in the FA Cup on Saturday, then two games with Real Madrid. Win, and you keep going; lose, and you’re out. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
City are looking to cut the gap to Arsenal on Wednesday night. Both play at the same time. City hosts Forest while Arsenal heads to Brighton, who just beat Forest. There are five points between them, but Arsenal have played an extra game.
After Forest, City have two big away matches: Newcastle in the FA Cup, then Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16. Haaland has already scored at the Bernabeu, but oddly enough, he hasn’t managed a goal against Newcastle in four tries this season.
THE FERGUSON BLUEPRINT: COULD PEP GUARDIOLA MIMIC SIR ALEX’S LEGENDARY 2013 EXIT?
Shay Given suggests Pep Guardiola could mirror Sir Alex Ferguson by leaving Manchester City if they secure the 2026 title.
People are starting to wonder if Pep Guardiola will bow out in style if he wins the Premier League this season, kind of like Sir Alex Ferguson did with Manchester United during his last year.
On Saturday night, Manchester City beat Leeds and pulled itself just two points behind Arsenal. The pressure’s on. Arsenal still lead, and they can stretch that gap to five points again, but they’ve played one more game than City. It’s a tight race.
City are no strangers to chasing down Arsenal; they’ve done it twice before in the last three seasons. Guardiola’s team has the experience, and honestly, that counts for a lot right now.
Arsenal have a great squad, no doubt about it, but not many of their players have actually won the Premier League. That could make a difference as the pressure builds.
Shay Given, who used to play in goal at the top level, thinks Guardiola might walk away from Manchester City if he lifts another trophy. He sees a bit of Ferguson in Pep winning big, then calling it a day. Given talked about it on Premier League Productions: “Arsenal probably have the deeper squad, two or three players for every position. But Pep’s not giving anything away. When someone asked him what Arteta needs to do to win the league, he just said, ‘I’m not going to tell him.’ He wants that trophy for himself.”
It’s pretty simple now: If either team wins all their remaining games, they win the league. Given says he’d back City. He trusts their experience. “They’ve been here before,” he said. “And I’ve got a feeling Pep might leave if they win the league. He’s rebuilt the team; maybe it’s time for someone else to take over, but he’ll want to go out on a high.”
Guardiola and City haven’t stood still. Over the last year and a half, they’ve kept reshaping their squad planning for life after Pep. Marc Guehi, Tijjani Reijnders, Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Antoine Semenyo have all come in. Erling Haaland and Ruben Dias are either at their peak or about to hit it. The city looks ready, whatever happens next.
