‘MANY TITLE CONTENDERS THIS TIME’
● City boss expects much more than two-horse race for league glory as City seal Shield success
City boss Pep Guardiola predicts multiple threats to his champions after Community Shield win at Wembley
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola expects “many, many contenders” for the Premier League title after edging past Liverpool to lift the Community Shield.
Champions City finished a single point above Jurgen Klopp’s Reds last season following an engrossing twohorse race.
Guardiola admits there remains little between the two teams after securing a 5-4 penalty shoot-out success at Wembley, but expects other teams to be involved in the battle for the league this term.
“I don’t know if it will be like last season, two real contenders – Liverpool and us – to win the Premier League,” he said.
“I think United with (Harry) Maguire and the other players they bought, Arsenal as well, and Chelsea, and Tottenham that they won all the preseason so I think there will be many, many contenders this time.
“They (Liverpool) are a topclass team and the difference is one point ahead and one penalty ahead, that is the difference. It’s minor.
“Sometimes the coin can come on your side, sometimes it cannot so that is why it’s good to face them to see how well prepared we have to be to try to win the title.”
Claudio Bravo’s shoot-out save from Georginio Wijnaldum proved decisive yesterday after Joel Matip’s second-half header cancelled out Raheem Sterling’s early opener to leave the game 1-1 at full-time. City, who gave a debut to £62.8 million club record-signing Rodri, have been fairly quiet in the transfer market and look to have missed out on England defender Maguire, who is on the verge of completing a move from Leicester to Old Trafford for around £80m, and Guardiola claimed his club could not compete financially with their neighbours.
“Maguire is an excellent, top-class player,” said Guardiola, pictured. “We were interested but we could not afford it. He’s an excellent player, he made an incredible World Cup, he’s strong in the air, good with the ball in the build up and he’s so fast. Congratulations for United for this signing.”
Guardiola, who played down the severity of an early injury suffered by Leroy Sane, feels the current footballing calendar is “not normal” and believes it should be looked at by the authorities.
“The people say that ‘for the amount of the money the players win, for the amount of money the managers win, you have to play, play and play’. That is not normal,” he said.
“They don’t listen to the players, the managers, what is the best to protect, especially the players. Because at the end of the day I don’t play, I can be every day being a manager and having a game, I don’t run, but the players should consider it.”
Reds boss Klopp, who agreed with Guardiola that the schedule is too punishing for players, was pleased with the overall display of his side.
“Football-wise, the second half was just really, really good, the best way you can play against City,” said the German. “They are in the early stages as well, they will be in a different shape in a couple of weeks, for sure.
“But having this amount of chances we had today is a very good sign for us, absolutely.
“I liked the game a lot. I don’t like the result but I liked the game a lot, so for us it was very, very important.”
Guardiola admitted he left Riyad Mahrez out of the Community Shield match over concerns the player could have potentially fallen foul of doping rules.
The 28-year-old Algerian only returned to training on Friday after leading his country to victory in the Africa Cup of Nations final last month.
However, notwithstanding that tight timescale Guardiola said they were not prepared to risk putting Mahrez in the squad because they did not have full disclosure of what medication the player might have received while he was away.
“Riyad called me just after being (crowned) champion with Algeria and said, ‘I want to come back in ten days, I want to play against Liverpool’. I said, ‘You are more than welcome, it’s perfect you come’,” said Guardiola.
“But we don’t have what he took... about the medicine.
“That’s why, for doping control, today was a risk because the doctors didn’t have it. That’s why he wasn’t in the squad to play some minutes.”