Pep Guardiola admitted winning the FA Cup will not be enough to call Manchester City’s season a success on the day his side reached the final but were dethroned as Premier League champions.
Rico Lewis scored after just 109 seconds against Nottingham Forest at Wembley before Josko Gvardiol extended City’s advantage in the second half.
City then rode their luck when Forest struck the woodwork on three occasions.
However, Guardiola’s players saw out the semi-final to seal their place in a third consecutive FA Cup final and a meeting with Crystal Palace on May 17.
City, fourth in the league, are also on course to qualify for the Champions League, but when it was put to Guardiola that cementing a place in Europe’s premier competition next season, and winning the FA Cup, would mark a “successful” campaign, he replied: “No, and I have said that many times.
“This season has not been good. We are a thousand million points behind Liverpool, so come on, this season has not been good.
“Look at the Champions League. How many games did we win? One or two? And we have always been a machine in that.
“Of course, the damage would be minor (if City win the FA Cup) but we cannot confuse that the season has been good if we finish in the top five and qualify for the Champions League. The club has to take the decisions, the right ones, for next season to be better.”
City are 21 points behind Liverpool – who were crowned champions on Sunday following their 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham – in the league and one point clear of Chelsea and Forest, who also have a game in hand, in the race for the top five places and qualification for the Champions League.
City will play four matches in the league before they return to Wembley next month to face Palace following their impressive 3-0 win against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Guardiola added: “Being in another final speaks so highly about the volume of generation of players and this club. And we are very pleased we are in the final.
“But the season is defined by the Premier League and being consistent and this season that couldn’t happen.
“The most important thing is qualification for the Champions League and we have to be calm now and recover. We have four finals to play, and then an unbelievable game against Palace, and we saw yesterday how good they are.”
A slow-starting Forest improved in the second half. Morgan Gibbs-White hit the crossbar, and then the post, before substitute Taiwo Awoniyi struck the City woodwork for a third time. But they could not find a breakthrough.
“We started really badly, and City started well,” said Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo. “And it made everything hard.
“In the second half, the momentum changed, we had a couple of chances, and the game could have been a different story.
“We have big things ahead of us to fight for. Today is tough because we put a lot of effort into the FA Cup.
“But tomorrow when we wake up, and we see what is ahead of us, it can only bring us more energy for the last games of the season.”
