Pep Guardiola has insisted that Manchester City can not always be at the top of the tree and accepts that the current plight of Liverpool and Chelsea could easily happen to his own team.
City and Liverpool have finished the Premier League season a point apart twice in the last four seasons, but Jurgen Klopp's side will travel to the Etihad Stadium today trailing their second-placed hosts by 19 points.
It is a far cry from last season, when only a City comeback from 2-0 down against Aston Villa denied the Reds a 20th league title as they chased down an unprecedented quadruple of trophies. But Liverpool's drop-off this season has been stark and Guardiola is only too aware that the same fate could hit his own side in the future.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Guardiola said: “Always I think it can happen. I never think or overestimate me so much - or the team - that it's not going to happen. This can happen. I've said many times that the teams who win the Premier League, the year after, they can not even qualify for the Europa League. That is the best thing we can have as a club, as an organisation. That it can happen.
“Every time it can happen, what happened to Liverpool this season or in another case, Chelsea or another team in the top six. It can happen to us, absolutely. When it happens, try to find a solution as soon as possible and try to avoid it. If it happens, two or three weeks, then in the fourth week try to find a solution.
“When it happens, accept the storm and always tomorrow the sun rises. The only thing I believe in is don't complain, find solutions and try to avoid it, but knowing this can happen. You have to qualify for the Champions League every season. We are the only team in England to do it in the last decade, but it can happen. Still I'm waiting - the champagne is in the fridge for the moment we qualify for the Champions League next season. Still we haven't done it and this is the only thing I care about.”
Liverpool have a task on their hands as they try to climb the table and finish the season in the top four. The Reds are currently seven points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham, albeit with two games in hand. But sandwiched in-between the two clubs is Eddie How's Newcastle United, who have played the same amount of games as the Reds, but have five points more.
Klopp will be hoping to get a tough run of fixtures, following the international break, off to a positive starting, having lost his last league match 1-0 at Bournemouth. After City, the Reds will take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday evening before hosting Arsenal at Anfield on Easter Sunday.
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