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City Determined To Reignite Fire Of Old
The Straits Times
|April 27, 2025
Pep says goal celebrations in win over Villa show team are rediscovering their passion
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LONDON - Pep Guardiola has vowed that Manchester City will be back to their best next season after losing their "spirit" during a turbulent campaign that exposed an unexpected lack of hunger in his side.
City, who had won the previous four English Premier League titles, want to salvage a dismal year by winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Champions League via a top-five finish.
Guardiola's side face Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi-finals on April 27 knowing defeat at Wembley would condemn them to finish without a major trophy for the first time since 2016-17.
But the manager is already looking to the future and thinking about how to avoid a repeat of City's stunning struggles and he believes he has found the solution.
The Spaniard noticed the passion his players celebrated with after Bernardo Silva put them ahead in a crucial 2-1 league win against top-five rivals Aston Villa on April 22.
It was a display of unity that Guardiola did not see earlier in the season, when he felt City took success for granted after winning six of the last seven Premier League titles.
This story is from the April 27, 2025 edition of The Straits Times.
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