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Pep Guardiola delighted of his work at Man City but admits even he ‘could not imagine’ their Premier League domination.
Pep Guardiola admitted that the successes of his Manchester City team have taken him by surprise, despite the fact that he has always felt he was a great coach.
The Catalan coach joked about his own talent, stating, “I love myself a lot,” but emphasized how amazing his club has been during his time in Manchester.
Guardiola arrived at Manchester after winning six league titles and two Champions Leagues with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. On a domestic level, though, he has enjoyed even greater success at City.
City are on the verge of winning their fifth Premier League title in seven years and the triple after defeating Real Madrid 4-0 on Wednesday to go to the Champions League final and the FA Cup final.
“I love myself a lot but I never thought…I arrived with no expectations, do whatever you want. I could not imagine, with players and people here, to do what we have done in the Premier League,” Guardiola told a press conference on Friday. “I realised after five, six or seven games in the Premier League, how tough it is. Learn quick, players and teams. Every day was a little better, try to arrive a little better. Do better than yesterday, the players feel it and we can achieve it. You never think the start of the season how it’s going to be. Now we know, three games away to win all the titles.”
After chasing down Arsenal, who had dominated the title race for most of the season, City can secure their third consecutive Premier League title on Sunday at home against Chelsea.
They might even win it on Saturday if Arsenal loses at Nottingham Forest, but Guardiola has stated that he will not be watching that game with his players and expects to be declared champions in front of their own supporters by defeating Chelsea.
“I don’t think so [that the team will watch Forest-Arsenal together]. We have a game the day after. Chelsea deserve it. In my mind, I’d like to feel we have to win to be champions,” he added. “We cannot control Nottingham. Doesn’t matter what happens in Nottingham, we have to do our job. After three days later we have Brighton. They can make a big thing if you’re not yourself. We have time at the end of the season to celebrate. [Sunday] we can win, celebrate in the stadium with our people.”
City host Chelsea on Sunday before travelling to Brighton on Wednesday. Their final Premier League game is away to Brentford on May 28.