Manchester City’s Carabao Cup success produced contrasting reactions from the manager and his players over the implications for the Premier League title race. Pep Guardiola praised the performance but cautioned that the trophy might not alter the campaign against Arsenal. “I would like to have nine points in front of Arsenal,” he admitted, even asking whether he would “change” the trophy for that lead. He added: “It will have no impact,” calling the competitions “different competitions.” Guardiola also warned that “They will be more concerned when they come to [the] Etihad,” a reference to the league meeting on April 19, and suggested the win could help his side against Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals.

Players presented a starker assessment. Nico O’Reilly told the CBS Sports studio: “Yeah, 100%. The blood never went—we’ve always smelt blood. We’re confident in ourselves, we know we can do it, they’ve got to come to our place which is a tough place to come to as everyone has seen this season. So we do smell blood and we’ve got to keep going. It does a lot for us [winning the final], builds momentum and just push on now. Obviously it’s a big blow for them. They were going for everything, just as we were [before defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League].”

Rodri echoed those sentiments, calling the match’s effect “A lot, a lot,” and explained: “That’s why I say it’s a game not only for this title [Carabao Cup] but to show that we can beat them.” He conceded “There is still a lot to do,” and reflected on City’s Champions League exit: “and it’s clear we didn’t want to go out of the Champions League, but we went out and now we have to take the positives, we have more time to prepare for the games. So that’s something to take into account—but we also have to celebrate this. The Real Madrid game was pretty tough [losing 5–1 on aggregate ] but the team has recovered. We knew it was a very important game against Arsenal not only because of the title but also because we had to face the best team in the league. Now we need to rest, go back to the next round of internationals and come back with the optimism that we still have two more competitions to fight for.”

Arsenal retain a nine-point lead, though City have a game in hand and can reduce the gap to three with victory at the Etihad on April 19. Mikel Arteta vowed: “We’re going to use this disappointment and this fire in the belly to have the most amazing two months that we have ever [had] together,” adding: “That’s on us and we’ll manage that energy in the right way. Now we have to go through that pain and disappointment and it’s normal and it’s part of football.” Arsenal have lost only four matches across all competitions this season and have followed earlier defeats with double-digit unbeaten runs, a pattern they will seek to replicate after Wembley.

Mikel Arteta said he would repeat the decision to start Kepa Arrizabalaga in the 2026 Carabao Cup final, even after Arsenal lost the showpiece at Wembley to Manchester City following a costly error from the stand-in. The mistake allowed O’Reilly’s second of the afternoon and, while the goal was described as a collective failing, much of the disappointment was directed at the luckless stand-in.

Arteta defended the choice as one of principle. “I have to do what I feel is right, which is honest and which is fair,” he told assembled media after the final whistle. “I think we have an outstanding goalkeeper in Kepa. He’s played all the [games in the] competition and I think it would have been very unfair for him and for the team to do something different.”

Questions were raised about whether cup involvement had been part of the agreement that brought Arrizabalaga from Chelsea to Arsenal. The manager was clear that no promises were made. “I can never promise a player to play certain competitions,” Arteta insisted, “they have to earn it and do enough.

“We are guided by what we see. What he’s done in the competition, and how he helped us to get us to the final, I believe it was the right thing to do. Errors are part of football, and unfortunately it happened in a crucial moment.”

Arteta reiterated his stance to broadcasters. “I would do it again,” he told Sky Sports.

The use of different goalkeepers for different competitions has a long history in English football. As early as 1888–89, Preston North End employed James Trainer for the league while Dr. Bob Mills-Roberts was selected for the FA Cup; Mills-Roberts kept his place for the FA Cup final and kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 win. History has not always been so kind to the substitute.

Pep Guardiola benefited from his decision to trust James Trafford against Arsenal on Sunday. Gianluigi Donnarumma’s understudy made three fine saves to keep City in the tie earlier in the first half. “Players can be happy, unhappy. It is what it is,” Guardiola shrugged after announcing his decision ahead of kickoff.

On the eve of a Carabao Cup final meeting with Arsenal, Pep Guardiola dismissed suggestions that his rivals were mounting a realistic quadruple challenge. Asked how hard it is to assemble four trophies in a season, Guardiola cut across the premise and drew attention back to his own side.

When a reporter noted Arsenal had won a treble and therefore come close, Guardiola replied: “I mean, you’ve won a treble,” and, after a pause, added: “And quadruple as well.” He went on to explain he was referring to the 2018–19 campaign when Manchester City collected four domestic trophies: the Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and Community Shield. “I know it’s not as prestigious, like you pretend,” he sniffed with a shrug of his shoulders, “but we did it.”

That remark underlined a recurring point for Guardiola: the status of the Community Shield. He has long expressed frustration at how that one-off season opener is viewed. As he has said in the past: “When Manchester City win the Community Shield, it’s not a title,” he once seethed. “When another team wins the Community Shield, it’s a title.”

Guardiola’s comments arrived shortly after City’s hopes of sweeping all competitions were ended by Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 this season. He also reflected on his relationship with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, a former assistant at City, and how distance has changed their dynamic. “I don’t have time to go to London, and I don’t think he has time to come to Manchester,” Guardiola admitted. “When we were here [at City] we saw each other five or six hours every day, so the relationship is completely different after his five or six years in London.”

The intervention was measured and pointed: Guardiola would not entertain hype about a rival quadruple while emphasising a past season in which City secured four domestic trophies and pressing his case over how those honours are categorised.