Pep Guardiola leads Manchester City back to Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday, seeking to avenge the defeat that marked the beginning of their dramatic decline this season.
City's remarkable 32-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League was shattered by a 2-1 loss at Bournemouth in November.
The defeat, coming just days after a League Cup exit to Tottenham, marked the first time City had lost consecutive matches in all competitions since September 2023.
The reigning champions, who had dominated the league for the past four seasons, saw their grip on the Premier League slip to Liverpool after the loss at the Vitality Stadium and managed just one win in their next 11 games across all competitions.
Reflecting on City's first-ever defeat to Bournemouth, Guardiola, whose team now sits fifth in the league, admitted he saw the early signs of their collapse.
"It was our first defeat in the Premier League this season. We have to learn from it and try to reach the semifinals," Guardiola told reporters on Friday.
"That was the first game where we were a little bit not competitive in terms of the standards we required.
"The game before, we lost in the (League) Cup against Spurs. We were good there. But I could not turn around the symptoms that the (Bournemouth) game started, in terms of being present and winning duels.
"I tried for many months. This time it took more time."
With their dynastic reign over English football suddenly fading, City has been reduced to fighting to qualify for next season's Champions League, while a third FA Cup triumph in the Guardiola era would salvage a little pride.
"The target is to reach the FA Cup semifinals for seven years in a row, then after that we have to win games to qualify for the Champions League," Guardiola said.
"In the good moments, you learn, and in the bad moments, you learn. When experiences happen, if you don't learn, they will happen again.
"When I said in the past that Champions League qualification was a huge success, people didn't believe me. Now they believe me."
After FA Cup final victories over Watford in 2019 and Manchester United in 2023, Guardiola could become only the eighth manager to win the trophy three times.
"Of course, with the season we have, to come back to Wembley, with the chance to reach the final, that would be nice," said the Catalan, whose team lost to United in last year's final.
"We take the FA Cup seriously, like the League Cup in the past when we won it four times in a row."
Asked if Rodri could return in time for the FA Cup final or the Club World Cup in June and July, Guardiola refused to give a timeline for the Spain midfielder's recovery.
Rodri was expected to miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in September, but the Ballon d'Or winner has been training with City recently.
"Listen, it would be nice if he could play tomorrow, but it is the wrong decision right now," Guardiola said.
"He is behaving on the pitch really well, but competition is different. We have to be sure he is fine before he is involved."
