Pep Guardiola has discussed the rivalry that has been created in recent season between Liverpool and his Manchester City side and labelled it as an ‘honour’.
The two outfits have dominated English football somewhat and have made up the top two in three of the last four seasons.
The Citizens pipped Jurgen Klopp’s side to the Premier League title by a single point on the final day of the season last term, just as they did during the 2018/19 campaign, and many are expecting more of the same this time around.
“We were able to create this rivalry, that’s true,” Guardiola said (as quoted by the Liverpool Echo).
“The last years, the biggest opponent we faced to win the title in all competitions was Liverpool. To be part of that is an honour. Before that it didn’t happen in this club. When Sheikh Mansour took over the club and after make investments, we could create a good environment to compete with the elite of English football. Sport is like this, individual and collective, you need someone to get you better.”
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Before 2008 and the arrival of Sheikh Mansour at the Etihad, the Sky Blues were very much a mid-table club at best.
The endless amount of financial backing that City’s managers have received have enabled them to now challenge at the top both at home and in Europe.
The European Cup is still the trophy that evades the club, however, even though they did come extremely close last year before being defeated by Chelsea in the final.
We’re expected to once again battle it out at the top of the league with Guardiola’s side this season but we’ll just have to wait and see.
We defeated them 3-1 in the Community Shield recently and played them off the park at times but we’re aware that the season is long and we have to maintain that level of performance right across the campaign.
The arrival of Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland at the respective clubs this summer mean that both sides can now operate with out-and-out strikers for the first time in a number of seasons.
Both players made their mark on the opening weekend with our No. 27 scoring and registering an assist whilst Haaland netted twice as City eased to a 2-0 victory against West Ham.
It’s going to be another intriguing tussle between the two sides but let’s hope we can come out on top!