ORLANDO, Florida — Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players to “rest their minds” in preparation for the new season after they were dumped out of the FIFA Club World Cup by Al Hilal.
City were shocked by the Saudi side 4-3 in extra time at Camping World Stadium on Monday.
Guardiola said it was “a pity” his team could not go further, but immediately turned his attention to the start of the Premier League in August.
“We would have loved to have continued,” the City boss said. “[You are] only here once every four years. We had a feeling that the team is doing well, but we go home and now it’s time to rest and rest our minds for the new season.
“The vibe was really good. I cannot thank Manchester City enough and especially the players for training and how they have been playing. The margins are minimal.”
Guardiola admitted City had not been “clinical” enough against Al Hilal, particularly during a first half in which they had a number of chances to score.
Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was in inspired form and allowed his team to come back into the game in the second-half and eventually prevail on a rollercoaster evening thanks to Marcos Leonardo’s 112th-minute winner.
“In the end we have to score and be clinical,” Guardiola said. “They did not create much in the first half, we did but could not finish it. I had a feeling we could go through. We allow them to make transitions [but] we created a lot.
“So many good things I did not see in the past. The relationship between the players, our captain [Bernardo Silva] helped a lot and the standards with staff.
“I felt we were happy here, the training sessions have been really good but the level of this competition is the World Cup.”
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