“What can happen?” Pep Guardiola asks, before plotting the worst-case scenario. “Lose a game? And lose the Premier League title? Then we’ll just try again next year.”
Manchester City’s manager has just provided an impassioned rendition of the message he shares with his players – “don’t miss these moments, don’t waste opportunities, enjoy it because you deserve it for your hard work” – but isn’t his preaching of pleasure at odds with the need to be near-perfect?
England’s champions, one point ahead of Sunday’s opponents Liverpool – their foes in the FA Cup semi-finals and an obstruction to their Champions League ambitions – are under enormous pressure amid the possibility of a treble.
There is no margin for error, no tolerance for missteps, and no easing of expectations.
The tense showdown at the Etihad has an all-or-nothing filter. Can enjoyment actually exist in these circumstances?
“People say it, and it’s
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