Will Kevin De Bruyne start and a travelling squad update – Every Word from Pep Guardiola’s Crystal Palace preview press conference | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has explained the circumstances that could lead to a start for Kevin De Bruyne against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Final this weekend.

The third successive final stage appearance for Manchester City will be the Belgian creator’s final-ever outing at Wembley Stadium for the Etihad side, as he brings an end to an illustrious 10-year stay with the club.

While De Bruyne himself will not be at Manchester City next season, the 33-year-old has consistently spoken about his determination to ensure his teammates remain at the pinnacle of the European game via a UEFA Champions League spot.

As such, there has been no wind down in De Bruyne’s energy and fight to secure wins until the very end of his City career, and that eye for glory will only come as further motivation to Guardiola’s players this time around.

The subject of whether the veteran attacking midfielder will start for Manchester City against Oliver Glasner’s side on Saturday afternoon was among the talking points responded to by Pep Guardiola during his pre-match press conference.

There was also conversation around the complications of a potential FA Community Shield appearance in August, as well as the scheduling of Manchester City’s next Premier League game against Bournemouth on Tuesday night.

Following the release of the second-half of Pep Guardiola’s pre-match press conference, here is every single word from the Manchester City manager on the eve of the 2025 FA Cup Final!

On rounding off Kevin De Bruyne’s Manchester City career with a major trophy

“Of course, Kevin wants to do it for us, for the team, and of course, we want to do it for him. But to win you have to perform, you have to behave, you have to do something. But of course, it will be nice. But even if he wasn’t the captain, and he wasn’t the captain for many, many years, he lifted already a lot, a lot of trophies – a lot.”

On whether there is a sense of Kevin De Bruyne being ‘desperate’ to win this trophy

“He lifted maybe 18 or 19 trophies in nine or 10 years, so it’s not bad, I would say. So, if he can have one more that would be good, but he lifted – maybe he was not the first, right – a lot.”

On whether a potential 2025 FA Community Shield appearance would present another problem for him

“Ask me after the [game]. Are you coming to London? Good. After the game, if we win, ask me the question. I will remember you, I will remind you.”

On whether he ever gets sentimental for such occasions or whether it is simply a case of Kevin De Bruyne being the right player to start or not

“No, I play him because I believe he can produce what he has produced so far. Against Crystal Palace, 0-2 down, he changed the game with his free-kick. And absolutely, in the situation that we are in, we cannot do it just for being gentle. It’s because truly I believe that we need him and he’s going to help us. (Will he start?) I don’t know yet, I have an idea, but we will see.”

On whether an FA Cup win and a strong performance at the FIFA Club World Cup could affect the mood of Manchester City’s players returning for pre-season

“The players, the club, myself have an incredible reset and mindset to see when it’s over, it’s over. In a good moment, in a good season, previous seasons, and this one, it will be in one week, 10 days, it will be over the season, we’ll start a new season in the (Club) World Cup and the reset will be there with a fresh mind and start again. So it’s simple.”

On the importance of Kevin De Bruyne’s leadership by example

“The example defines the leadership, the example defines our behaviours as human beings. The others are just words and it can be true or it can be not true, but the example. How many years has he been here? A lot, right?

“Playing important games in many, many seasons – except the last year or one season, I don’t remember when we won the league in Brighton, like I would say he was injured all year. But in the previous seasons, and the first part of the season, the rest he has been a key player for us.”

On the burden of being so successful that the FA Cup cannot be perceived as such a great achievement for Manchester City

“I agree with him, of course the people talk about the Premier League, Champions League, maybe going in front [of other competitions]. So people say, ‘No, it’s not enough.’ I said before, it’s not just three [finals] in a row, it’s seven semi-finals in a row in the FA Cup – that is a huge achievement, sometimes maybe better than lifting one trophy.

“It means like we have not been this season, in the Premier League especially, and the Champions League as well when before it always happened. But it’s happened, sometimes it happened, but now we have the privilege again. Always I think, ‘Oh going to Wembley’. How many times have we been in Wembley in the last nine, 10 years? More than 20 times, maybe?

“Semi-finals, Carabao Cups, and that is a success. No team has been more, travelling, taking a train, going to London, going to the hotel, close to Wembley, see the same faces for many, many years, to be in Wembley to play semi-finals and finals in competitions.

“Come on, it’s impressive, I would say. But at the same time, we are here, it’s not enough, and we are there to climb the stairs and to lift the trophy, and that’s why we go there.”

On Kevin De Bruyne’s best moments that stand out

“I don’t know. There’s a lot, right?! We find incredible moments expecting his talent and producing something, but there are a lot. What I would like is the period he was here, it was fun. He enjoyed the training sessions, enjoyed playing games, competitions and feeling the pressure and competing well.

“That is the best compliment that me as a manager, or of course my staff for many, many years that was in Man City, not just with me, with Manuel Pellegrini before. ‘Oh that was so fun, so good’. That will be nice. The titles is important. You go home, OK, I won how many Premier Leagues, or Champions Leagues, or whatever. At the end it’s trophies, it’s numbers.

“It’s not emotional at all. The moment you’re done, it’s okay. When you make a perspective, I said, ‘What I’ve lived for many years here in this city, in this country, in this club was good.’ Hopefully he can feel it.”

On whether there is not just one goal that stands out from Kevin De Bruyne

“There are many. I don’t know. There are many, he scored a lot of goals and assists. I don’t know. There are incredible goals he has scored of course, but I would not say. It’s a good question for him, right? To score which one is his favourite.”

On how his thinking of the season would change if Manchester City achieved what they want to achieve in the remaining days of the campaign

“Let me feel it, right? Just in case we are successful in the FA Cup, and we can qualify for the Champions League, and after I will feel… Sometimes you ask me, ‘What do you think, or what do you feel?’ So I don’t know, let me live it and after I will tell you.

“But of course, I’ve said many times, it hasn’t been a good season, but the damage has been acceptable, I would say. If we are able to win tomorrow, two titles in this season, and we can play the Champions League, but we have a tough, tough three games. Really tough. We know we missed an opportunity in Southampton and we have to recover it in the next two games.”

On Erling Haaland comments suggesting an FA Cup win would save the season, but perhaps not for those who have been at the club longer

“Yeah I know, but the new players don’t have maybe the standards that they have done than the old players, or managers, or me myself, don’t have standards that we could not accomplish this season. But at the same time, we are in the FA Cup final, we were in the Community Shield in the beginning, and it’s happened.

“So it’s normal, it’s what I said, before the FA Cup now is not enough, but maybe 20 years ago, or 50, or 20, or 25 years ago, winning the FA Cup one season was extraordinary. So we know that. We know it’s unnecessary to admit just for one title, how was our season? I think the analysis would be poor, would be not good, in terms of…

“I said many times, the Premier League is what dictates how is your momentum, your season, I would say. Always I said all the time, it’s the most difficult one, the more consistent, the more going there. Because FA Cup is five, six games, seven games, OK, you can do it.

“It’s not easy, but you can do it. But 38 games, and all the competitions, that defines, and this season has not been how we were. Maybe 20 years ago, trying to finish top-four or top-five from Man City would be good, but now it’s not good enough.”

On his Manchester City squad for the FA Cup Final

“All will travel down.”

On the difficulty of keeping the whole squad and dressing room together throughout a tough season that featured difficult results and the captain leaving in January

“Always they have been together. The group of players, it’s humanity in accepting the decisions or how they behave is extraordinary, one of the best I’ve ever been with, and so good. But of course, we had all the problems that we had, and we tried to manage every week, every month as best as possible.”

On whether he has seen anything new from them this year

“The results have not been good for many reasons. There have been many, many things, but listen; it’s impossible to win all the time. It’s impossible, there’s no team ever that can win all the time. And it could be worse, right? Even in that season, it could be worse!

“So we have to try to be there until the end, the next three games of the season, and every minute and every action we have to defend and attack as best as possible with a mindset, good mentality, go to the final to win it, to win it, because the players win the finals, not the systems, not the ideas, it’s the mentality. And they proved it a lot and we want to prove it tomorrow again.”

On the perception that an FA Cup win could mean more to Crystal Palace than Manchester City as they have never won a major trophy

“I have an incredible enthusiasm to win tomorrow. I don’t know if Oliver [Glasner] or Crystal Palace players, the fans, of course, when you have never won, that is special. But of course, I prefer, honestly, to travel to London to play the FA Cup final than don’t play it. That’s for sure. But at the end, it’s a football game, 11 against 11, the quality of them, and this is what we see will happen.”

On how much of a factor that can be compared to technical ability differences

“Yeah, it can be, or on the other side they can feel more the pressure, so I don’t know. I’m not in the locker room, dressing room of Crystal Palace, I don’t know how you handle it. Of course, there’s the illusion to win it, it could not be different, come on.

“But at the same time, ‘Oh maybe it’s the last time we play here and maybe it will be difficult, maybe they don’t play like fluid, like it could happen’, I don’t know! And at the end, my players and the players from Crystal Palace, we’ll see tomorrow when the referee decides to start the game.”

On whether he would have preferred Bournemouth (H) to be played on Wednesday/Thursday

“Definitely. (Did you ask?) Ask?! Yeah, yeah… (Why would they not play that Thursday?) Tottenham Hotspur play against Aston Villa, right, Friday? To the Europa League final, no? Good decision. No, honestly, I’m not being ironic and making sarcasm.

“The Premier League made a good decision, really good. We played all the time quarter-finals, semi-finals, quarter-finals, semi-finals on Wednesday, away. And we play semi-finals on Saturday. This season, we didn’t play, and we play Sunday [against Nottingham Forest].

“We didn’t need that day extra, you know, when we play in that position. And the people say, ‘No, for broadcasters, for more fans, or whatever, more followers than the other ones’. The previous season they had more followers on the other game, not our game. They are tired to see us. So, I would prefer to play Wednesday, definitely.”

On whether it could harm Manchester City’s chances of the Champions League

“Listen, we have been nine years fighting against these situations every single season. And nothing, go, that is the deal, go. Of course we’re going to play Tuesday night against one of the most intense and physical and direct and powerful teams in the Premier League – it’s Bournemouth – playing for the Europa League or Conference to qualify.

“And we have to deal with that. But what I’m saying, I don’t know [Manchester] United when it is, but I heard that they [Tottenham] play the game on Friday against Aston Villa. So, this is what you should do. When it’s possible, this is what you should do. And I think I don’t change much to play Tuesday, Wednesday for us, to be honest. But OK, they decide, we play here on Tuesday with our people.”