VAN BASTEN: PEP BUILT THIS CITY ON ROCK ’N’ GOALS

EXCLUSIVE HOLLAND legend Marco van Basten believes Pep Guardiola has taken Manchester City to the cusp of European domination. Van Basten is now tipping Guardiola to retain the Premier League title AND realise City’s dream of winning the Champions League for the first time. A three-time European Cup winner as a player with AC Milan, Van Basten, 57, said: “As long as

Pep and his team don’t win the Champions League, they keep the debate going that they cannot rule Europe with their football.

“But they are capable of doing it, in my opinion – it is now just a matter of proving it this year.

“The quality in Pep’s side is not only in attack or the midfield. They are so strong because of the power at the back.

“City’s defenders are a joy to watch because they are comfortable on the ball. They don’t just defend, they can dribble, they can pass and they can move into midfield when City have possession.

“The movement of the players is just incredible. They move around, they create triangles and switch positions. Yet, all the time they look like one team.

“It is all a complete picture. They are organised so well.”

City’s failure to lift the Champions

League has been used as a stick to beat them. Guardiola’s tactical mistakes in last year’s final saw them suffer a shock defeat at the hands of Chelsea in Porto. That was the third time Guardiola had been beaten by Thomas Tuchel in the space of a few weeks. But City completed a Premier League double over the German’s side this season. And Van Basten (above), now a technical director for FIFA and a pundit on Dutch TV, added: “Pep’s men don’t seem to have any problems with Chelsea or any other opponent now.

“I saw City play against Chelsea recently and it was so impressive.

“I’d seen better stuff from Chelsea earlier in the season, but the one-touch football from City was just too much for them.

“City made them look helpless and hopeless, purely from the pressure they applied all the time.”