Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola attended the pre-match press conference ahead of the clash against Arsenal.
Obviously, you've been through countless title races like this before. You know, you know, you know exactly what to do in these final six to eight weeks. Over the past decade, you've managed all kinds of players with different personalities.
With that in mind, how do you help your players reduce pressure? After all, everyone is different and everyone reacts to things differently.
I think pressure comes from the pressure they put on themselves, like, oh if I win, I'm a champion; if I lose, I'm a disaster. I never talk about this kind of pressure with the players. I always have to feel the pressure myself, then ask: Lads, did I convince you to play like that today?
Because everything we do depends on the players' level. So the opponents believe that pressure doesn't exist. The players also know, ah, I'll do this, I'll do that.
I can do these things because I'm good enough. We will win this game. I have to try to imagine us doing it, we can do it.
I always look at the game this way. When I played before, the coach would convince me, or tell me, lads, do this, do that. I would say, yes, oh, the space is here.
Press like this, contest the second balls like that, or any other details. After that, just play, keep playing. So, oh, this is a final, everyone expects all kinds of questions, like what if we lose?
If we lose, we're still champions. We can end the press conference. Is that what football is about?
That's it. This is my choice, this is just a football match. Go out there and do what we're supposed to do.
There have been several times this season, especially after the games against Nottingham Forest and West Ham United, when you may have hinted that you thought the gap between the teams was too big.
In that sense, given the pressure and mentality required to win this game, do you feel your players are under less pressure, while Arsenal are under more? Because they've been at the top of the table for most of the season.
They were leading, and had built huge leads at different stages. Perhaps no one expected your team to be in this position. So I understand it's just a winner-takes-all game between two teams, but in terms of pressure, it feels like they're under more.
We need this pressure to compete with this team. We need pressure. They have to understand that if we lose, it's all over.
They know that. We've been talking about it. Like I said, last year, what happened in the Premier League over the past six, seven, even eight years, every game we knew that if we lost, we wouldn't win the Premier League title. So we have to deal with that.
But in the end, you still have to play the game. You have to do something, don't you?
Where is the pressure? What does it mean if we lose? We have to act, we have to take steps, don't we?
We have to think, think about what's happening. We have to use our brains in the moment. That's what we have to do.
So, of course we're under pressure. It's the same as the League Cup final against Southampton in a week. If we lose, we're out.
Yes, I know. But we have to do something, don't we? What do we have to do?
That's why we train here almost every day, trying to make them feel, when we attack in the final third, when we defend deep, when the opponent's defenders rush at us, what do we do to avoid counterattacks? What different strategies do we adopt for each different opponent?
I tell you, that's all I care about. I don't want you to see this path. So if we lose, I'll shake Arteta's hand and then pray they lose their next five games so they can win the title.
But I don't think that will happen. So let's go out and win our game on Sunday.
