Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has stated that he hopes the possibility of a Carabao Cup triumph will take the club to the next level, as The Citizens booked their place at Wembley with their 3-2 win over Bristol City on Tuesday night.
Going try and reach another level
Many have touted The Citizens as possible candidates for what prove to be a historic quadruple, it does seem that they already have the Premier League tied up with their 12-point lead following last Saturday's 3-1 win over Newcastle United.
They headed to Ashton Gate with the advantage over Lee Jonhson's side, which was only increased with Leroy Sané and Sergio Agüero scoring either side of half-time to all but secure their place in the final.
They were however pushed to very edge by The Robins with goals from Marlon Pack and Aden Flint seemed to snatch a respectable draw but Kevin De Bruyne snatched the win at the death, City have won two out of last four League Cup trophies and Guardiola stated that he hopes a triumph on February 25 will take City to a different level.
"It's not for me," Guardiola said on post-match. "It's for Manchester City to try and reach another level."
"In the past [Roberto] Mancini and [Manuel] Pellegrini achieved that and we have to try and keep going for that level," the Catalan stated. "The important thing for me is to be there and keep going in every game."
"We have a final against Cardiff and we're going to continue in the FA Cup," he added. "And try to keep going in the Premier League as well."
It will be a good lesson for us
Despite getting the win and the passage into the final of Carabao Cup there will be some causes for concern for Guardiola, with his side failing to put the tie to bed until the last kick of the game and letting a slip a two-goal advantage.
City will be on cup duty again this weekend as they travel to the Welsh capital on Sunday to take on Cardiff City in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and their return to the Champions League against FC Basel less than a month away.
Guardiola shared his elation by getting his side into their first final under his tenure, but admitted that that it will be a "good lesson" for his side when they visit The Cardiff City Stadium this weekend.
"We're so happy to be there and for everyone involved at the club to reach this final," the coach said. "We played an amazing game until 2-0 and then we lost control, and in these kinds of games it's never easy until the end."
"But it will be a good lesson for us next Sunday in Cardiff and especially in the Champions League," he admitted. "In these kinds of situations to [play for] 90 minutes."
"In the first half we missed the last pass and we couldn't be more precise with more accuracy," Guardiola concluded. "We should have scored three or four goals and at 2-2 with a minute or two left anything could have happened."