PEP TALK

Guardiola tells new-look City: Forget about last season, this Club World Cup is a fresh start for all of us

- FROM JOHN CROSS

PEP GUARDIOLA has told his players they are starting afresh at this Club World Cup.

That is the very clear message from the Manchester City boss who wants to leave last season's disappointments in the past and focus on getting back to the top.

The Club World Cup is bolted to the end of a 2024-25 calendar that saw City endure one of their worst seasons for years, finishing empty-handed.

Besieged by injuries, City surrendered their Premier League crown, lost the FA Cup Final and made an early Champions League exit. There is a clear determination to leave that campaign behind and try and put themselves back on top of the world - starting now.

City have largely ruled the Premier League since Guardiola took charge, and they won the previous incarnation of the Club World Cup, as a seven-team event in Saudi Arabia in 2023.

The new CWC format - greatly expanded to 32 teams is far more competitive, and City are not being viewed as the force they have been in the past.