Soccer-Guardiola deflects future talk saying no decision has been made after title dreams dashed


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BOURNEMOUTH, England, May 19 (Reuters) - Pep Guardiola ⁠confronted a heartbreaking end to Manchester City's title bid on Tuesday but deflected questions ⁠again about his future, saying no decision had been made while warning it would ‌be the wrong moment to make such an announcement.

City's 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday extinguished their Premier League challenge in deflating fashion, a late leveller from Erling Haaland arriving too late to keep alive the race and turning Sunday's ​finale against Aston Villa into little more than perhaps an ⁠emotional send-off for Guardiola.

Speculation over his future ⁠has only heightened the sense of an era drawing to a close, but Guardiola again refused ⁠to ‌be drawn on whether he will step away this summer.

"I could say I have one more year of contract and with conversations I have had for many, many years always ⁠from my experience, when you announce whatever you announce during ​the competition is a bad, ‌bad result," Guardiola told Sky Sports.

"Like you understand the first person I have to talk ⁠to is my ​chairman because we decided when we finish the season we will sit and we will talk. Simple as that. And after we will take the decision.

"Listen, I have one more year contract, I will not tell ⁠you here because I have to talk to my chairman, ​my players, my staff. When we play for the FA Cup, before we qualify for the Champions League, we play for the Premier League, there is just one thing in my mind and the ⁠focus is try to win the team to the highest points and we have done."

Tuesday's draw was a frustrating result in a season in which City pushed hard down the stretch, only to fall short at the penultimate hurdle.

It also ended City's dreams of a domestic treble after they had ​already hoisted the League Cup and FA Cup trophies, the latter ⁠just three days earlier.

Guardiola said the gruelling schedule of three games in six days showed in his ​players on Tuesday, particularly in the second half.

"(We played) three days, ‌three days, three days," he said. "Of course, it ​has happened. It is what it is.

"The players gave everything all the season, fighting difficult circumstances until the end. We were close."

(Reporting by Lori Ewing; editing by Clare Fallon)

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