Many laughed derisively when Pep Guardiola said in December that Manchester City were going to win the Premier League for the fourth successive time. “My feeling today is we’re going to win the Premier League… People don’t believe it already after three draws but we feel we’re going to do it again, knowing that it is not easy because no team has done it yet. The difficulty is there and was last season but, if you ask me today what I’m feeling, we’re going to do it again,” the 53-year-old told the media ahead of their game against Aston Villa, one of the title contenders.
The Blues had failed to pick up full points in three successive games against seasoned teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur. They were third in the standings, six points behind leaders Arsenal, though with a game in hand. The naysayers and ridiculers then got further emboldened as things went from bad to worse for Guardiola’s men: against Villa away, they lost 1-0.
Believe it or not, they have not lost since. They have since won the Club World Cup, have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, have finished top of their group in the Champions League and beat FC Copenhagen in the Round of 16 first leg, and lastly have brought themselves back into title contention in the Premier League. At present, they are just two points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand.
Since the 3-3 draw against Tottenham, City have played 15 games across competitions, and other than the Villa game, there has not been a single encounter where they have dropped full points. In fact, they have won 13 out of these 15 games and split points with Crystal Palace.
In just a matter of few weeks, City have started to look threatening again. The return of two players from injury Erling Haaland and particularly talisman Kevin De Bruyne appears to have breathed life back into them, and this miracle may very well continue through to the end of the season. Embarrassed, the naysayers and ridiculers are now looking away, avoiding eye contact with the backers of Guardiola.
Meanwhile in Spain, 35-time La Liga winner Real Madrid appear to have pressed their foot down on the gas since their Copa del Rey exit last month at the hands of Atletico Madrid. Make no mistake, their elimination significantly killed the joy of winning the Spanish Super Cup a few days before, where they thumped arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1 in the final.
Since the Atletico defeat, Real have played five games in La Liga and they have won four and drawn one. Presently, they are leading the La Liga table, six points ahead of Girona, who are eyeing to do a Leicester just into their fourth top-flight season in their 94-year history, and 10 points ahead of third-placed Barcelona. In their four wins during this period, Real even thumped Girona 4-0 in what was a major statement of intent. And then on Tuesday, Real overcame RB Leipzig in the Round of 16 first leg at the Champions League.
At this stage, Carlo Ancelotti’s Real are firm favourites to win the La Liga. Barcelona and Atletico are pretty much out of the title race and while Girona have shown great character so far, they may fall just short of winning the title. Extraordinary things don’t happen that often.
The title race in England, on the other hand, looks wide open with Liverpool, Arsenal, Spurs and Villa promising to throw everything they have got. But City may just prevail. They have a lot of motivation going for them, too. For one
thing, no team has ever won four successive EPL titles before. Since the European Cup was transformed into the Champions League in 1992-93, no English team has won back-to-back Champions League either. With Guardiola’s nous and a bunch of extraordinary players at his disposal and recent results, the tide is already shifting and the doubters are now queuing up to bet back on City winning the Premier League at least.