‘Caipirinhas, daiquiris’: Guardiola tells City players to chill and ignore title pressure

‘Caipirinhas, daiquiris’: Guardiola tells City players to chill and ignore title pressure Manchester City beat Newcastle to cut Arsenal’s lead to two Team given three days off before facing Leeds Pep Guardiola told his players to “take a lot of caipirinhas, daiquiris” to handle the pressure of the title chase after Manchester City beat Newcastle 2-1 to close to within two points of Arsenal. Two goals from Nico O’Reilly on 14 and 27 minutes at the Etihad Stadium were answered only by Lewis Hall’s strike in between as City moved to 56 points and a goal difference of 31, one fewer than Arsenal’s. While Mikel Arteta’s team can widen the gap to five points if they win at Tottenham on Sunday, they will have played a game more. As Arsenal are at City on 18 April the title is in each side’s hands. City next play Leeds on Saturday, returning to training on Wednesday before the game. As a large proportion of Guardiola’s team has never won the Premier League under him, the manager was asked how confident he was regarding their mental courage to deal with the pressure. “I say to the players: ‘Guys, what we have to do is take a lot of caipirinhas, daiquiris in these three days ! Enjoy life. And after that, make a proper three training sessions, and go to Leeds,’” said the manager. “70% of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this. Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people.” The 55-year-old is unsure if he will watch Arsenal’s game. “I am on holiday so don’t know,” he said. Guardiola praised O’Reilly, who operated in attacking midfield, saying: “He has also played full-back, holding midfielder when Rodri was not there. Now in his position today - what a player, he made an incredible step up.” Of Erling Haaland, who provided the cross for O’Reilly’s opener, Guardiola said: “Erling was the man of the match for me. F...