Manchester City were beaten by Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night and now face Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.

Jeremy Doku has challenged Manchester City to respond to their Champions League heartache in perfect fashion by lifting the Carabao Cup this weekend.

City were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid on Tuesday night having been reduced to 10 men midway through the first half when Bernardo Silva was sent off for handball on the line. Vinicius Jr converted the penalty and, after Erling Haaland levelled before the break, the Brazilian added a stoppage time second for the visitors to complete a 5-1 aggregate success.

It means City’s European campaign is over for another season, and, with their Premier League chances hanging by a thread given Arsenal’s nine-point lead at the top, the chance to beat the Gunners and lift the first silverware of the campaign at Wembley on Sunday is a huge opportunity.

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“That is a good cure to this game,” said Doku. “We will do everything to win that game.

“There is still a lot to play for, there is still three trophies to win. We do that, it is going to be a great season still. Of course we are disappointed with the Champions League, it is always a nice trophy to have but there are some lessons to take out of these two games. We recover well and look forward to the next games that we have.”

The message from the City camp after the midweek defeat to Real was one of pride, with the Blues producing a positive performance in the second leg despite the early red card. And Doku feels the tie will stand City in good stead for the future.

“We played well, 10 against 11, 11 against 11, we did well and created chances. I feel like if we play like that every game you will put many teams in trouble. There are some good things to take out of this game for the next one.

“We can be proud of our performance, playing against a big team like that 10 against 11 and still performing like we did, still putting them into trouble – not every team can do it.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win, but we can look each other in the eyes and be proud of each other. We will recover now, try and win the game on Sunday and be in the Champions League for next season.”

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The Carabao Cup Final will see Arsenal v Manchester City at London’s Wembley Stadium this March.

Eberechi Eze has played down his injury concerns after Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday night.

The 27-year-old scored a brilliant goal in the first half to open the scoring for Arsenal before Declan Rice struck in the second half to secure the victory for Mikel Arteta’s side.

Arsenal will now play Sporting CP in the Champions League quarter-final after they overturned a 3-0 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the first leg with a 5-0 win in the return fixture in Portugal.

Eze, meanwhile, went down injured in the second half and was replaced in the 69th minute by Kai Havertz.

Manchester City booked their place in the 2026 Carabao Cup final thanks to a 3-1 (5-1 on aggregate) victory over Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.

12:23, 05 Feb 2026

Pep Guardiola’s desperation speaks volumes when it comes to the case for his Manchester City defence. Guardiola is hopping mad that new signing Marc Guehi remains ineligible for the Carabao Cup final against Arsenal on March 22.

A little known rule has presented Guardiola with a big and well known problem. EFL rules were tweaked this season, which means players can turn out for two different teams in the competition in a single campaign. That meant Antoine Semenyo started both legs of City’s semi-final against Newcastle United.

But because Guehi arrived at the Etihad in a potential £30m deal after the first leg, he was ruled out of the second one and subsequent showpiece final next month. The time restriction has come at a price for Guehi.

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But what could the cost be to Guardiola, in his quest to win a historic Quadruple this season at the expense of his rivals from north London? Guardiola is discovering that there are some things money just can’t buy – like a place in his team for a major cup final, for arguably his best centre back.

City cruised past Newcastle in the two-legged semi-final. But while the scoreline suggests it was a mismatch, nothing could be further from the truth.

James Trafford was one of City’s best players in both halves. The goalkeeper came in from the cold to produce a red hot performance.

He denied Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon with superb saves, while producing an even better one to keep out Sven Botman’s header. After the break, Yoane Wissa missed a golden chance to score, while there was nothing Trafford could do to stop Anthony Elanga from netting a consolation goal for the visitors towards the end.

A combination of some fine goalkeeping and woeful finishing failed to expose a City defence which is still not functioning well enough to win big titles. Arsenal might not be scoring goals for fun this season, but still have more than enough guile and quality to punish Guardiola’s back four.

Manchester City will seek permission for a rule change that would allow Marc Guehi to play in next month’s Carabao Cup final against Arsenal.

The January signing from Crystal Palace has slotted straight into City’s starting XI but was ineligible for last night’s comfortable 3-1 semi-final second leg win over Newcastle.

While fellow January recruit Antoine Semenyo was free to play, Guehi was prevented from featuring because he joined City after the first leg against Newcastle took place.

As things stand the England international will have to watch from the sidelines again when his new side locks horns with the current Premier League leaders on March 22, much to Guardiola’s annoyance.

Guardiola acknowledged he did not expect City to be successful, but said they will make their case regardless.

‘Why should he not play? Why not?’ Guardiola said. ‘He’s our player, we pay his salary, we hired him…

‘We want to ask. I said to the club we have to ask definitely. I don’t understand the reason why he cannot play in the final of the Carabao Cup in March when he has been here a long time…

‘Of course we are going to ask because it’s pure logic. (But) to change the rule, no way. But we will try.’

Guardiola’s complaints didn’t stop at Guehi’s potential participation, however, and also made reference to his annoyance at having to travel to London for another showpiece occasion.

He said: ‘We’re going to travel to London [for the Carabao Cup final], they [Arsenal] will wait for us there; all the time we have to travel. Never [the opposition] travel to the North of England [for a Final].’

Omar Marmoush was the star for City as he scored the opening two goals of the night before Tijjani Reijnders added a third, all inside 35 minutes.

Guardiola would have been concerned by the number of chances Newcastle created after the break, but with Anthony Elanga’s 62nd-minute strike the only one they converted, City were never overly troubled.

The win continues City’s run of having played at Wembley at least once every season since 2010-11.

‘I do not take it for granted,’ Guardiola said. ‘I know how difficult it is. I don’t know how many semi-finals and finals we have played in the FA Cup but it’s really good, and in 10 years five Carabao Cup finals so it’s really good: top, top, top.’

Marmoush, who previously scored a hat-trick against Newcastle, once again grabbed his chance against the Magpies with Erling Haaland starting on the bench.

‘He gives us a special quality,’ Guardiola said of the Egyptian. ‘His pace, his moments in behind, and his work ethic.’

Newcastle arrived in Manchester trailing 2-0 from the reverse fixture and knowing a strong start was essential.

Instead, they found themselves quickly 3-0 down and effectively out of it.

‘(I was) really annoyed with the first half display,’ boss Eddie Howe said. ‘We pride ourselves on being really organised and tactically we want to be able to handle any problem the opposition gives us. That first half we weren’t good enough individually and our duels were off and it gave us huge problems.’

To add to Howe’s worries, Anthony Gordon was forced off before half-time.

‘It looks like a hamstring problem,’ Howe said. ‘I don’t qute know how bad it was but it was enough for him to come off so that’s a big worry.’

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