Pep Guardiola has pointed to Liverpool being unable to beat Manchester City’s 100-point Premier League title triumph as an example of how many of his team’s records may never be beaten.
Guardiola led City to a record points total in 2017-18. That was the first of City’s six championships under him, with last season’s fourth in succession also a record achievement.
Guardiola’s side are now 16 points behind Liverpool, with injuries a major factor in City’s uneven campaign. During Tuesday’s 3-2 Champions League loss to Real Madrid, Jack Grealish and Manuel Akanji became the latest to suffer problems. While Grealish may recover from what is thought to be a muscle problem for Saturday’s visit of Newcastle, Akanji is to undergo surgery on an abductor injury and will be out for up to 10 weeks.
Guardiola said that due to the accumulation of game-time for players, numerous injuries are inevitable, which in his opinion makes City’s supreme success under him more remarkable. “[Even] with that [injuries], we took all the records in England. Nobody has done four Premier Leagues in a row,” said Guardiola. “It’s different when you break your own record and say: ‘What’s next?’ We have all the records – had 100 points in a season. I said many times to the players, when I analyse the last nine years, we’ve had a really really bad three months. It’s not bad, no? People are saying: ‘What’s happened Pep?’ But what has happened in the past [under him]? That is not normal now, or in the past.
“Who would do 100 points now? I’m waiting. Or four in a row, I’m waiting. Have you seen Liverpool this season? They cannot do 100 points already, definitely cannot – 99 but not 100.”
Despite the injuries, Guardiola will take his strongest possible squad to June’s Club World Cup in the US. “It will be summer time there, we will go with the families, we will train when we have to train and prepare the games,” he said. “It is important for the club, financially and for the prestige. We will welcome people [youngsters] from the academy [too].
“After we’ll see if I give extra time to some to arrive late [for pre-season] and maybe the first games of the Premier League or the first games of the season. We will see how they arrive [condition] and how many minutes some players play.”
Regarding Akanji, Guardiola said: “We wish the best recovery for Manu because the effort he has done this season has been unbelievable.”
