Admit it, Pep, that was tough

PEP GUARDIOLA sounded a little tetchy after Manchester City secured an added-time win at Bournemouth. Asked if such a narrow escape was evidence that the Premier League was the hardest in Europe, he bristled. ‘I know you like to hear “it is the toughest one, congratulations”, but I would not say going to the Bernabeu, Camp Nou, Bilbao, Sevilla is easy,’ he said. Guardiola added that when English clubs do as well as Spain’s in Europe, then the Premier League can claim to be the toughest. Yet he wasn’t being asked to compare European performance. He was asked to evaluate a visit to Bournemouth, and came up with opponents such as Sevilla and Athletic Bilbao. Plainly, Bournemouth are not Sevilla or Bilbao. Sevilla have won the Europa League in five of the last 12 seasons, Bilbao were finalists in 2012 and have won the league eight times and the Copa Del Rey 23 times. Bournemouth have never played in Europe, never finished higher than 10th, and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup once, in 1957. Here’s a little more perspective. When Kevin De Bruyne signed for Manchester City on August 30, 2015, his fee was over £20million more than Bournemouth had spent on players — ever. So Bournemouth giving City a game until the 96th minute two years later is evidence that, yes, the Premier League does have claims to be the toughest — if not the best — in Europe. And here’s more. The club Guardiola managed in Spain was Barcelona. And he said playing Sevilla and Bilbao was hard. And no doubt it was. But not that hard. In the last 10 completed seasons Barcelona have played Sevilla 31 times. Sevilla have won just three of those games, and only one in La Liga. The other two wins were a Copa Del Rey second leg, and the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup in 2010 — which Barcelona won 5-3 on aggregate anyway, because they took the second leg 4-0. And Bilbao? Played 33 Won 24 Drawn 7 Lost 2 for Barcelona — and neither of those defeats took place in La Liga. The last time Bilbao won a league game between the clubs was on May 20, 2006 — the final match of the season with Barcelona having already won the league by a minimum of 12 points. The last time Bilbao beat Barcelona in a league game that mattered was on November 24, 2001. So while the quality of La Liga is unquestionable, the challenge is largely contained within the elite. That’s why it’s tougher here, even if Bournemouth may never win the Champions League.