Pep Guardiola has claimed that Liverpool are one of the teams that push Manchester City to their ‘limits’ after the Sky Blues were crowned Premier League champions for the third successive year.
Arsenal’s defeat to Nottingham Forest last night meant that City had already been confirmed as league winners ahead of their clash with Chelsea at the Etihad today.
And speaking before the 1-0 defeat of Frank Lampard’s side the Spaniard was keen to ‘give credit’ to the Reds.
“Every Premier League [trophy] is special,” Guardiola said before City faced Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium (via Football.London).
“When you win three in a row it means consistency, especially against Liverpool and especially this year against an incredible, incredible Arsenal. I give credit for the quality of our opponents.
“In the past it was Liverpool and now it is Arsenal. Both teams bring us to our limits.”
City have now won five of the last six titles with Liverpool picking up the other during the 2019/20 campaign.
We have been pipped to the title by the Sky Blues on two occasions as well which shows how strongly we have competed with Guardiola’s side (who have been charged with breaking financial fair play rules around 100 times by the Premier League).
The hope is that we can perform much better next season to give us the best possible chance of denying the Etihad outfit from winning four Premier Leagues in a row.
Jurgen Klopp is expected to be extremely active in the transfer market this summer to help get his squad in the best possible shape and Virgil van Dijk has revealed that he’s expecting a ‘very intense pre-season’.