Pep Guardiola says that when he arrived at Manchester City, former assistant coach Brian Kidd told him not to pay any attention to the League Cup. "Play the young players," Kidd advised. "Nobody cares." Guardiola didn't listen, though. He took the tournament seriously and led City to four consecutive triumphs between 2018 and 2021 - but felt he got very little credit for doing so.
So, imagine his surprise to see Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp universally lauded for winning this season's Carabao Cup. "I don't know what happened in these last years," Guardiola said in his very first press appearance after the Reds' 1-0 win over Chelsea at Wembley, "it looks like the final of a different competition."
The bitterness was blatant, with Guardiola quite clearly feeling that the press was painting Liverpool's triumphs, in 2022 and 2024, in a very different light to those of City - and not for the first time as far as the Catalan was concerned...
