Pep Guardiola shut down all talk of Manchester City potentially winning the Premier League title this weekend.
And the Blues boss said that Manchester United - the only team who can stop their march - gave them a sharp reminder that the scrap could still go right to the wire, by hammering Roma 6-2 in the Europa League semi-final last night.
A win for City away to Crystal Palace tomorrow lunchtime, followed by a United defeat by Liverpool on Sunday, would clinch the crown. And even a win at Selhurst Park and a United draw, would mean the title belonged to City, unless the Reds won all of their remaining games, City lost all of theirs, and a goal difference of 16 could be whittled down.
But Guardiola refused to accept that anything is certain, and pointed out that a United side with six wins and a draw from their last seven games, cannot be discounted, and he repeated his one-game-at-a-time mantra.
And the short turnaround from Wednesday night's Champions League semi-final win at Paris Saint-Germain to a Saturday 12.30pm kick-off, at the end of an exhausting season, makes predictions even more hazardous, he said.
Asked whether this expected title win would be their finest, Guardiola said: "Let me try to win at Crystal Palace.
"Don't ask me what I will feel when I still haven't experienced it - because it didn't happen. I know you're curious to anticipate it but we saw yesterday another example of the contender we are up against.
"United is an extraordinary team and we need five points to be champions. Tomorrow we have an incredible opportunity to make this step.
"Once we win this game, we will think about what will happen and then you can ask me whatever about my feelings. All I can do now is recover as well as possible from the game we played in Paris.
"It is our sixth game in a row away. It is a lot of travel and we are tired in many aspects and that's why we travel there, we play tomorrow at 12.30 - we have no extra time to recover from Paris and we have to focus on what we can do to pick up an important victory to be closer than ever to being champions after playing for 10 months.
"I'm sorry not to answer your question but this is the reality."
