Man City coach Pep Guardiola demands mental strength ahead of trophy battles

City delivered a strong performance at St James' Park on Saturday to keep their hopes alive across multiple competitions, with Guardiola urging his players to stay true to their identity as the pressure rises.

"It's a pity the battle for the Premier League is now not in our hands. That is a big drop against Nottingham," Guardiola admitted.

"But don't think much, it's just - OK, now recover and go to Madrid, make a good selection and hopefully we can behave in who we are.

"That's always been my focus when we play on the biggest stages against the big teams. It's not about win or lose, it's being who we are as individuals and as a team, and after that you never know.

"Just be who we are as a team - that is the main mentality to have in your mind that the players know all the time."

City now faced a crucial period of the campaign, including a heavyweight two-legged UEFA Champions League Round of 16 clash with Real Madrid and a major EFL Cup Final showdown against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium. Key Premier League fixtures would also play a decisive role in the title race.

Reflecting on the victory at Newcastle, Guardiola singled out the influence of Nico Gonzalez and Nico O'Reilly, while praising his side's improved consistency after the break.

"He played so good," Guardiola said of Gonzalez.

"Nico helped us a lot in the absence of Rodri and today again. I think his partnership with Nico O'Reilly was outstanding - both physicality and when they had the ball. It was really, really good."

Guardiola was particularly encouraged by City's second-half display, an area he felt had cost his side earlier in the campaign.

"I'm happy because in our last three games our second half was quite similar to the first half. All season we dropped quite a lot in the second half and otherwise we would have been in an incredible position in the Premier League," he explained.

"But we didn't because we didn't have enough tools and players available to make changes."

With decisive matches looming in Europe and domestically, Guardiola made it clear that silverware would depend not just on tactics, but on his players embracing the club's identity on football's biggest stages.