Manajer Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, memutuskan untuk mengistirahatkan penyerang utama Erling Haaland dalam pertandingan penutup Liga Primer Inggris musim 2025/2026 melawan Aston Villa di Stadion Etihad pada Minggu, 24 Mei 2026.
Keputusan tersebut diambil karena Haaland dijadwalkan langsung bertolak untuk membela tim nasional Norwegia di ajang Piala Dunia setelah melewati agenda kompetisi domestik yang padat sepanjang musim.
Dilansir dari aol.com, Guardiola melakukan sembilan perubahan masif pada susunan pemainnya setelah Manchester City dipastikan finis di peringkat kedua menyusul hasil imbang melawan Bournemouth yang sekaligus mengunci gelar juara untuk Arsenal.
Laga emosional yang menandai akhir sepuluh tahun masa bakti Guardiola di Etihad ini diwarnai dengan penamaan Tribune Utara yang baru diperluas menjadi 'The Pep Guardiola Stand' guna menampung rekor penonton di atas 61.000 orang.
" + ""It’s a mix, a lot of players who didn’t play for a long time,"" + " kata Pep Guardiola, Manajer Manchester City.
Guardiola juga sengaja memasang John Stones serta kapten Bernardo Silva sejak awal pertandingan agar keduanya bisa menerima penghormatan terakhir dari para pendukung sebelum resmi hengkang dari klub pada bursa transfer musim panas.
" + ""We want a standing ovation for Bernardo and John. If it was the final game to win the Premier League, the selection wouldn’t be the same."" + " ujar Pep Guardiola, Manajer Manchester City.
Meskipun Manchester City kehilangan trofi liga domestik musim ini, raihan trofi Piala FA dan Piala Carabao tetap melengkapi koleksi gelar Guardiola menjadi 20 trofi selama satu dekade kepemimpinannya.
" + ""A lot of players have had a lot of minutes in the last games. A lot of them have been incredible, what they have done for this club. I am more than satisfied to give them the chance to play today."" + " tutur Pep Guardiola, Manajer Manchester City.
Di kubu lawan, manajer Aston Villa, Unai Emery, juga melakukan rotasi besar-besaran dengan hanya mempertahankan Ollie Watkins, Victor Lindelof, dan Emi Buendia setelah skuadnya berpesta merayakan keberhasilan menjuarai Liga Europa tengah pekan lalu.
" + ""I will try to be serious. I will try to get the best starting 11 players and be focused on respecting the competition, but it’s not easy. Sorry, but it’s not easy!"" + " aku Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Emery yang sukses mengamankan tiket Liga Champions melalui jalur domestik maupun kompetisi Eropa sangat menghormati rivalitas panjangnya dengan Guardiola sejak mereka berdua masih berkarier di Liga Spanyol pada musim 2008/2009.
" + ""It’s a fantastic match for us to play, being fourth in the league, maybe we can finish fifth – it depends as well, our match and Liverpool’s match, but it’s in our hands, and something fantastic,"" + " sebut Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Aston Villa sendiri datang dengan catatan buruk di laga pamungkas karena telah menelan 16 kekalahan pada pertandingan terakhir musim jajaran Premier League, termasuk saat takluk 3-2 di Etihad pada musim 2021/2022.
" + ""And on Sunday, Manchester City, they lost the league, but congratulations for Arsenal. Of course, a fantastic season Guardiola did, achieving the FA Cup, and not in Champions League and not in the league, but of course, the league is very difficult."" + " sambung Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Kendati demikian, skuad asuhan Emery mengusung misi besar untuk menyapu bersih dua pertemuan liga atas Manchester City musim ini setelah terakhir kali melakukannya pada musim 1962/1963 silam.
" + ""It’s very, very difficult to beat or to win this title in Premier League and to beat the opponent, they are as well, contenders and favourites, and Arsenal and Manchester City, they are, both teams, amazing seasons they are doing in the league, and of course, Arsenal, they are playing the (Champions League) final."" + " tambah Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Pertandingan ini juga menjadi pertemuan ke-19 bagi kedua manajer, di mana Emery baru mencicipi kemenangan pertamanya atas Guardiola saat menukangi Aston Villa pada tahun 2023.
" + ""I’s my pleasure to play against Guardiola. It’s my pleasure, it’s my honour to face him. I started facing him in 2008/09, he started training in Barcelona and I was starting in Valencia,"" + " jelas Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Sebelum kemenangan bersejarah bersama Villa tersebut, tim asuhan Emery selalu gagal memetik tiga poin penuh dalam 13 bentrokan awal melawan tim besutan Guardiola.
" + ""And four years in a row, we were competing, Barcelona, Valencia, (it) was his best moment in Barcelona. Amazing how they were playing, his impact was crazy good, and we were always finishing third."" + " kenang Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Meski rivalitas di lapangan berjalan sengit, Emery berulang kali melontarkan pujian tinggi terhadap kapasitas taktis dan personalitas yang dimiliki oleh juru taktik asal Spanyol tersebut.
" + ""And I didn’t beat him. Valencia didn’t beat Barcelona, Unai Emery didn’t beat Guardiola, and they were asking me in the press conference, ‘you can’t beat Guardiola’."" + " kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Kekaguman Emery tidak pudar walau kini era emas Guardiola di sepak bola Inggris dipastikan akan segera berakhir selepas peluit panjang ditiupkan di Stadion Etihad.
" + ""And I was answering, ‘if I am keeping for a long time, my position here, to face him is really being fantastic’. And now, on Sunday, I’m going to play against him."" + " ungkap Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Man City mengonfirmasi bahwa perayaan perpisahan resmi dan parade bus atap terbuka untuk merayakan pencapaian tim pria, wanita, serta akademi sepanjang musim ini bakal dilangsungkan pada Senin, 25 Mei 2026.
" + ""It’s my honour, my pleasure, because he’s the best coach in the world. Clearly, he’s a huge inspiration for other coaches. The only genius is him, and as a competitive, he’s always, every day, because I can identify and I can understand more, watching how he’s managing his team through the chapters in different medias on Amazon or YouTube or everything."" + " tegas Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Berdasarkan statistik dari mancity.com, Manchester City memiliki rekor kandang mentereng dengan memenangkan 19 dari 20 laga kandang terakhir mereka saat menjamu Aston Villa di kompetisi Premier League.
" + ""I beat him here after a long time, I beat him here with Aston Villa, Manchester City, and always how he showed me massive respect is something I appreciate a lot."" + " ucap Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Rangkaian perayaan perpisahan Guardiola dan para pemain pilar City dilaporkan akan ditutup dengan acara khusus bertajuk 'The After Party' yang bertempat di Co-op Live.
" + ""For me, he’s the best coach, but as well as a person, he’s fantastic. I respect him because I think he’s humble. He’s always so respectful with me, and I can watch as well with other coaches, and in football, and even in the life."" + " puji Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Pihak manajemen Manchester City menyatakan bahwa pintu gerbang untuk acara parade perpisahan tersebut akan mulai dibuka bagi para suporter sejak pukul 15.00 waktu setempat.
" + ""We were showing our desires and our wishes to be protagonists in this competition. But the priority always was the Premier League, and we were competing in both competitions - as a priority, Premier League, but as well, clearly in Europa League, preparing each game seriously, and competing like we did,"" + " urai Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Pihak klub juga membatasi waktu masuk terakhir bagi para pendukung hingga pukul 18.00 sebelum seluruh rangkaian acara perayaan resmi ditutup pada pukul 20.00 waktu setempat.
" + ""Today, we are through two competitions, because always, we set it as an objective to get Champions League positions through the Premier League or through the Europa League, and we achieved it in both competitions, and really fantastic, because the players as well, they followed us, this message strongly in the dressing room."" + " pungkas Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Manchester City XI: Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ake, Nico, Bernardo (C), Reijnders, Foden, Savinho, Semenyo.
Aston Villa XI: Bizot, Garcia, Lindelof, Mings (C), Maatsen, Bogarde, Luiz, Barkley, Bailey, Buendia, Watkins.
