Pep Guardiola Dismisses Comparisons to Barcelona Following Carabao Cup Victory Over Chelsea

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has praised his side's performance in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea, but insisted the Citizens' success cannot be compared to that of Barcelona.

Sunday's final proved to be a cagey affair, and penalties were needed to separate the two sides. Despite Leroy Sane's miss, it was City who retained the cup thanks to the winning penalty from Raheem Sterling. As a result, City's dream of the elusive quadruple remains alive.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola revealed he was delighted with his squad's character. He is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "Of course I'm happy. Compliments to Chelsea, they played an incredible performance. I'm happy to win back to back in this competition for the first time in the club's history.

"The important thing when it comes to penalties is personality and we did it.

"We played incredible players, Chelsea have incredible quality and after the result two weeks ago we knew it would be more difficult. It was a final.

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"Being in so many competitions is demanding and tough and we have players injured."

He was also asked whether he will be able to bring to City the stunning level of success he achieved with Barcelona. During his four years at the Camp Nou, Guardiola lifted no less than 14 trophies, including multiple triumphs in the Champions League and La Liga.

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His Barcelona side are widely regarded as one of the finest club sides in history, but Guardiola insisted that he will not compare them to his current side.

He said: "I'm not going to compare. What we did in Barcelona is unique. This is new players, new club, now we will see how far we can go."