'If we don't win all our games, Liverpool will be champions,' says Man City boss
- Planet Sport writer
- 20 April 2022
Pep Guardiola believes only perfection from now until the end of the season will deliver the Premier League title for Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players they will need to be perfect if they want to hold off the challenge of Liverpool.
City had to be patient in their 3-0 win over Brighton on Wednesday, with all three goals coming in the second half.
the run returned them to the top of the table, one point ahead of Liverpool with six games to play.
Guardiola, though, is not expecting any slip-ups at all from Liverpool between now and the end of the season, so he had a clear message for his troops.
"There are six games left and if we win all the games, we are champions," Guardiola said. "If we don't win all the games, Liverpool will be champions.
"It happened three years ago when we won 14 in a row to be champions. Liverpool are going to win all their games but it's not necessary to tell that to the players, they feel it. We're competing with one of the best teams ever.
"We have just one month, maybe five weeks. After 11 months it comes down to one month. We will do everything we can to be the best in those games."
It wasn't all good news for Manchester City, though, with an injury to John Stones threatening to keep him out of the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
250 - Pep Guardiola has reached 250 wins in 344 matches in all competitions with @ManCity, the quickest manager to reach this total with English top-flight clubs:
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 20, 2022
344 - Pep Guardiola
396 - José Mourinho
429 - Kenny Dalglish
433 - Arsène Wenger
439 - Don Revie
Levitating. pic.twitter.com/QBIvbf8jSt
"John felt something with a muscle, hopefully it's nothing," Guardiola explained. "He felt tight and didn't want to take a risk and we'll see in the next days."
Brighton boss Graham Potter, meanwhile, was philosophical in defeat, acknowledging just how special a team Man City are.
"They're a fantastic team, they played really well and deserved to win.
"We defended really well in the first half but we're disappointed with how we were on the ball. We missed too many easy passes and, in the end, their quality told, even though they had a bit of fortune with the first two goals.
"You have to put it in perspective and move on. There's no shame in losing to them, they were better than us."
