Pep Guardiola welcomed Manchester City's brilliant FA Cup performance at Newcastle as he admitted his squad have struggled to focus in the Premier League.
City returned to action 11 days ago knowing it was only a matter of time before Liverpool won the Premier League title - and they did so this week after beating Crystal Palace followed by City's disappointing defeat at Chelsea.
But City were back to their usual selves at Newcastle, winning 2-0 to set up an FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal thanks to Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling goals.
City were far better than the scoreline suggested, though, restricting Newcastle to one clear chance and producing a relentless pressing performance against a stubborn defence than deserved more goals.
And Guardiola admitted that City were more up for the cup game, knowing a win would take them one step closer to their ninth trophy of the last 11 available.
"We are in the semi-finals," Guardiola told Match of the Day.
"It was not easy to attack against a team defending so deep but it was a good performance. I am happy to go back to London, to Wembley.
"After the defeat against Chelsea, now in the Premier League we are struggling to focus. We are close to getting Champions League [qualification], it's not done but we are close, we need two victories. But of course there is a gap and it's a little bit different."
City remain in the hunt for the FA Cup and Champions League, with Guardiola reiterating that those two titles remain their priority for the rest of the season.
"We are at Wembley again and were winners last season so that is so good," he continued.
"We are of course preparing for [Real] Madrid at the end of the season now."
