Pep wary over Man Utd threat

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Pep Guardiola has warned his Manchester City not to underestimate Manchester United as they are capable of wrecking their treble dreams ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup final.

This weekend, City will travel to Wembley in an attempt to complete the second leg of their incredible season-long quest to win the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup.

Guardiola’s side won their fifth Premier League championship in six years with three games remaining, allowing the City manager to rest key players and fine-tune his tactics ahead of the two matches that will define their season.

On June 10, following the first all-Manchester FA Cup final against bitter rivals United, City will travel to Istanbul to face Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

Guardiola has focused solely on United this week, as they stand in the way of the club’s attempt to emulate their neighbours’ historic treble victory in 1999.

United are the only other English club to have won all three major trophies in a single season, and Erik ten Hag’s squad would love nothing more than to prevent City from approaching that feat.

United’s treble-winning squad only clinched the title with a victory over Tottenham on the final day of the season and required a remarkable late comeback to defeat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Those victories tested the nerves of everyone associated with Alex Ferguson’s squad, and City’s pursuit of the treble could soon reach its most tense phase.

Next week, Inter, who are third in a relatively weak Serie A, will be the underdog against City.

However, United should pose a greater threat, and Guardiola is well aware that Ten Hag’s squad has the ability to hurt them if they are not performing at their best.

Guardiola personally observed United’s recent 4-1 thrashing of Chelsea, while his team’s January 2-1 loss at Old Trafford still haunts him.

“I am more focused on United right now. I saw their game against Chelsea. I was really impressed and I have started to review a little bit what they did to us in the game at Old Trafford,” Guardiola said.

“As in the past, we have to be careful. I would be careful anyway but after Thursday and their games recently, we are going to prepare the best we can.”