Another title but City eyes Europe
MANCHESTER City’s latest Premier League title triumph established the champions as a burgeoning dynasty, but Pep Guardiola won’t be satisfied until their domestic bliss becomes the catalyst to conquer Europe.
City’s fourth title in five seasons is arguably the greatest achievement of Guardiola’s glittering career as he found a way to hold off Liverpool’s relentless challenge by one point.
“The magnitude of our achievement is because of the magnitude of this rival,” Guardiola said.
“Never ever I had a rival like Liverpool in my career as a football player or manager.”
But even Jurgen Klopp’s men, in the midst of one of the best seasons in their history, were unable to surpass City, leaving them with just one EPL title in 32 years.
Lauding his players’ remarkable staying power, Guardiola said: “You cannot be here over the last five years if you don’t have that resilience.
“We have the desire to win. To win titles, especially the Premier League, is not just how good we are with the ball.”
Nothing resembled that resilience more than the manner of City’s latest title triumph.
Down 2-0 to Aston Villa with 15 minutes to go, City rallied to score three times in five minutes.
Yet, while Guardiola celebrates the ninth major prize of his six-year City reign, Klopp will be planning to add another chapter to Liverpool’s rich Champions League history.
Liverpool faces Real Madrid in the Champions League final on May 28 and Guardiola would dearly love to swap places with Klopp in Paris.
Since winning the second of his two Champions League crowns with Barcelona in 2011, Guardiola’s relationship with Europe’s elite club competition has been scarred by one agonising failure after another.
This season was no different as City crashed to a devastating semi-final exit against Real Madrid, blowing a 5-3 aggregate lead in the final seconds of normal time before losing in the extra period.
That heartache at the Bernabeu came a year after City’s limp loss to Chelsea in its first Champions League final.
With that in mind, Guardiola knows City cannot afford to stand still if it is to finally triumph in Europe.
A $63m swoop for Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in May was the opening salvo in that bid.
Haaland scored 86 goals in 89 games for Dortmund.