Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola joked that his side was “a thousand, million points behind Liverpool”, which was crowned Premier League champion on Sunday with four games to spare.

But the Spanish manager was in little mood to dwell on reaching a third successive FA Cup final after beating Nottingham Forest, with his thoughts quickly turning to the race to secure Champions League football next term.

“The most important thing (is) qualification for the Champions League. We have to be calm now,” he told reporters.

Guardiola also welcomed City receiving a few slices of luck in the closing stages of their semifinal victory over Forest, who struck the woodwork three times through Morgan Gibbs-White and Taiwo Awoniyi.

“A few months ago, the (shots) go inside, that’s for sure,” he told ITV. “Everything is in the head, in the minds of the players.”

Guardiola said a return to the Champions League and another FA Cup final would still not make up for a disappointing season, though, telling reporters that City’s success would always be measured by their league performance.

He urged his players to focus on what could be salvaged from this campaign, starting with Friday’s game against a resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers, which Guardiola described as the first of “four finals” in the league.