Nathan Ake is certain that Manchester City will be prepared to get revenge on Manchester United in the FA Cup final the following Saturday.
With the Premier League championship already clinched and the Champions League and FA Cup finals still to come, Pep Guardiola’s team is in position to win the treble. Before facing Inter Milan in Istanbul on June 10, the latter is City’s first challenge at Wembley.
Back in January, United had the last laugh as two late goals in the last four minutes helped Erik ten Hag‘s club come from behind and win after Jack Grealish had opened the scoring on the hour mark. A controversial Bruno Fernandes equaliser that put United on the road to victory was something City was left to regret.
Since the Blues went on a stunning run of form to win the league title, Ake thinks City are ultimately better off for that disappointing day. Guardiola recently praised City’s defensive performance, singling out Ake for a good second half of the season.
“I think it was a learning curve (at United),” the City defender added. “Because after the target was set, we became a little disoriented. We were hoping to score right immediately. We lost the game because we lost concentration and gave up the second goal.
“I believe that experience taught us not to become alarmed when such things occur. Since more of this will likely occur in the future as well, how we respond now will determine how we respond in the future.
With regard to the defense’s development since then, Ake continued, “The team has done really well, and Manu [Akanji] is playing really well at left-back. Therefore, I must ensure that I am completely well and readily available to the manager.
The decision-making process then falls to him. The only thing we as players think about right now is winning championships, and anything he does is good for the team.