Pep Guardiola thought his side showed at Brighton why they are the best team in the country despite 'drinking all of the alcohol in Manchester'.
City celebrated hard on Sunday after lifting the Premier League title following their crowning after the win over Chelsea, with the players starting proceedings at the stadium before heading to a Manchester bar and nightclub to party into the night. However, they were back at the training ground the following day to begin preparations for games with Brighton and Brentford this week.
Brighton gave City a thorough test at the Amex Stadium, scoring one and seeing another two disallowed in a 1-1 draw that was high on entertainment. However, the Blues withstood the challenge and Guardiola was fuming that a late goal for Erling Haaland was ruled out.
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Aside from that decision, City's manager expected a drop in performance levels from his team but was left like everyone else watching the game enjoying what he had just seen. The game was better for him knowing City did not need a result to help them towards the title.
"It's the biggest complaint for Brighton and ourselves," he said. "I was a little bit worried about how much we would drop from what we have done the last four months after 40 hours ago we drank all the alcohol in Manchester so the way they played was outstanding against that team who play in that way that is so difficult.
"They have an incredible team, we tried to have the ball many times and we did it. They had the quality to go aggressive man-to-man, both keepers were so important.
"I enjoyed it a lot, especially being champions and not having to come here to win the game. They are a fantastic team in all departments. That's why they're in the Europa League, and also we showed the reason why we are the best team."
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