Matheus Nunes scored a 94th minute winner to beat Aston Villa with 2-1 and to beat the hope of Champions League of Man City, and then revealed that he did not even watch the competition on TV
Matheus Nunes said that Champions League qualification has become the Premier League trophy of Manchester City after their failure to challenge the title.
City's record of four years of rule, because English champions will come to an end on Wednesday if Arsenal loses to Crystal Palace, or if the Gunners win, Liverpool will confirm the title by beating Tottenham on Anfield on Sunday.
The failure of Pep Guardiola to keep pace in the title race after a surprisingly bad season has left them with two goals – reach the Champions League and win the FA Cup.
City took a big step in the direction of achieving the first goal with the dramatic late 2-1 victory on colleague Champions League-rival Aston Villa, in which Nunes scored a 94th minute winner.
The midfielder momentary used on Right-back-GAF that the City players had to adjust their goal to go for the title to ensure that they are in the Champions League next season.
“This is now our Premier League trophy – to be eligible for the Champions League,” said Nunes. “This is now our reality and we have to accept it. We just have to go for it as the Champions League is the Premier League trophy.
“I think it is extremely important for us, in terms of everything – the club, in terms of the players, the mentality. Now we can't fight for the Premier League trophy, so that's our main goal.”
But when he was asked if watching the Champions League from Verre this season – City was unable to make the last 16 – had made him a determined person to come back there, Nunes said he had not taken the trouble to watch the matches on TV.
“No, I'm not really watching football,” he said. “I just don't watch football. I don't know why it is only because our daily routine is just full of football. You know, it's the same as if you have worked in computers and you go home, you don't want to go directly to the computer.”
Nunes admitted that it had been difficult for the players of City to change their way of thinking by winning the title to trying a Champions League spot for next season.
“I think, especially for the boys who are longer here,” said Nunes, in his second season in City. “I mean, they are used to always winning and fighting for the title.
“But also, they are very experienced players. So they know better than I do that football. Sometimes you go up, sometimes you go down.
“This is a journey, it is a roller coaster and you have to be prepared for it. We now have a different purpose than at the start of the season.
“Hopefully we can qualify for the Champions League and continue in the semi -final of the FA Cup and go to the final. The match against Villa was a purely example of how difficult the matches can be. Nottingham Forest did a great season and we have to be ready on Sunday.”
Asked if winning the FA Cup and the qualification for the Champions League would be a successful season, Nunes said: “Of course not. We know that” the standards of the club are much higher than this. We know that this is not the standard where we want this club to be. '
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