Pep Guardiola has made it clear that Manchester City will prioritize the Premier League and Champions League over the Carabao Cup this season, choosing not to expend unnecessary energy on the domestic cup competition.
Despite securing a 2-1 victory over Championship side Watford in the third round on Tuesday, Guardiola revealed plans to use his reserve players in future Carabao Cup matches, citing a congested schedule.
“In the next round, I can tell you now, we’ll play the second team. We’re not going to waste our energy on this competition,” he confirmed.
While Guardiola had taken the Carabao Cup seriously in previous years, winning it four consecutive times between 2018 and 2021, this season he’s shifting focus.
For the match against Watford, played just 48 hours after a 2-2 draw with Arsenal, he made nine changes to the lineup, giving young prospects such as 16-year-old Kaden Braithwaite and 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly their competitive debuts.
“The schedule is the schedule; we cannot handle it anyway,” Guardiola said. “Today for [James] McAtee, Matheus [Nunes], Jack [Grealish], Phil [Foden], who didn’t play [against Arsenal], the young lad, 16 years old, it’s perfect.
;”That’s why it’s a good competition, otherwise, we wouldn’t win four in a row.”
Erling Haaland was given the night off against Watford, while key players like Éderson, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva were named on the bench.
Guardiola insisted he still wants to win the Carabao Cup, but hinted that he will continue to leave out his first-team regulars as they chase a fifth successive Premier League title.
“We play to go through,” he added. “We never throw a competition. Never. But we played 50 hours ago. I’m not going to [take] a risk with the Premier League and the Champions League in this competition.”