Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola stated the ability of ‘The Citizens’ to appear solid at the start of the season because of the presence of strong rivals such as Liverpool. Manchester City are at the top of the standings with a collection of 35 points through 11 wins and two draws in 13 matches in the Premier League. But Manchester City cannot relax because they are only two points away from Liverpool in second place and Tottenham in third place.
The Reds have 33 points and Tottenham 30 points. Just like Man City, Liverpool have also never lost in the Premier League. Both of them became strong candidates who will won the Premier League title. Pep Guardiola, manager of Man City, looked positively at the fierce competition. According to him, Man City players need encouragement from the pressure of rival teams to continue to look good and maintain the momentum of play.
“The current conditions are the same as the situation in Nadal, Federer and Djokovic, right?”
“They always force other players to be able to perform better because they know (tough competition),” Guardiola was quoted as saying by Liverpool Echo.
Guardiola said he did not need to remind the Manchester City players because Sergio Aguero and his friends has understood it well.
“We need that (competition) as an athlete. They already understand it. I didn’t tell them but they know how strong Liverpool are.”
“They know we cannot lose points because if we do that Liverpool will win the Premier League. I can say that Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham are in the same position at the moment, so is Arsenal,” Guardiola said.
Guardiola assessed the condition would have a positive impact on Manchester City.
“To be able to appear competitive, we need opponents who also have great abilities and this season we have that, both in England and in Europe,” said the former Bayern Munich coach.
Guardiola then recalled the moment when Barcelona became La Liga champions in 2010. At that time Barcelona won the La Liga title with a collection of 99 points, but only three points away from Real Madrid.
“I remember the season well. Madrid with Manuel Pellegrini played very well. We maintained the top level because there was a team that put pressure on us.”
“At that time we knew that if we lost points, then Real Madrid will win the championship title,” Guardiola said.
With this analogy, Guardiola believes his players know that they can be overtaken by Liverpool if they lose points.
