Manchester City have got “nine finals” left in the Premier League to make sure they qualify for next season’s Champions League, midfielder Nico Gonzalez has said.
City are locked in a battle to earn a place in Europe’s top club competition with just five points separating Chelsea in fourth and Bournemouth in 10th.
Pep Guardiola’s side are fifth following Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Brighton. The Spanish coach said after the game that City’s last nine games were all “finals.”
January-signing Gonzalez agreed, saying each one will be crucial.
“There are still so many games left, there are nine finals,” Gonzalez said. “We’ve talked a lot about this, that there are nine finals.
“Every game is a final for us. We played [against Brighton] as if it was a final and I’m pretty sure if we play like this, good results will come.”
The top four in the Premier League are guaranteed to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Fifth place might also be good enough if England earn one of UEFA’s performance spots — something that is looking increasingly likely.
City are looking to qualify for the Champions League for the 15th year in a row after last missing out in the 2010-11 campaign.
“Of course it’s very important for us to be in the Champions League,” said striker Omar Marmoush, who scored his fourth City goal against Brighton.
“We will just keep working, we will not calculate the positions and everything, we will just keep working, give 100% and just try to win the next games and give our best every game.”
City’s next Premier League game is against Leicester City at the Etihad Stadium on April 2. Guardiola is hoping to have Bernando Silva available despite the Portugal midfielder being forced off with an injury against Brighton just 18 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute.
“I’d say that if Bernardo — he’s incredibly strong and I was watching him for five minutes — he couldn’t take two steps properly,” Guardiola said.
“So that’s why I decided not to take a risk. The doctor told me that in two weeks maybe he can recover. Hopefully he will be back.”
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