Coach Pep Guardiola has compared Manchester City’s bid to win the Premier League title this coming weekend to serving for a Wimbledon title.
If Arsenal lose to Nottingham Forest on Saturday or if Manchester City defeat Chelsea the following day, Guardiola and his boys will be crowned Premier League champions for the 2022-2023 season.
This means that City are on track to win three titles in less than a month after defeating Real Madrid on Wednesday to advance to the Champions League final, and are scheduled to play FA Cup final with Manchester United in June.
Despite spending the year trailing longtime leaders Arsenal, Guardiola claims City have displayed the same mentality as they have in prior title-winning seasons.
“Tennis players say to serve to win Wimbledon is the most difficult one,” Pep Guardiola said.
“It’s non-stop. Of course, we are satisfied to play the Champions League final but now is coming the most difficult thing.
“But on Sunday the game is in our hands to win the most important competition.
He added, “Now we talk about mentalities because we won. And I don’t believe in that. I defend the team when we lose and they had the same mentality”.
Pep Guardiola and his boys were trailing the Gunners by eight points at the start of April, but a run of 11 consecutive league wins stretching back to February and Arsenal’s sudden inconsistency have seen them open up a four-point gap at the summit as they seek a fifth Premier League title in six seasons
“This is the reality”, Guardiola said. ” To recover eight points on Arsenal – first we had one game in hand at that moment, so it was a little bit fake but we knew we had to win almost all games and they had to drop it.
“If Arsenal had maintained the same rhythm as the first leg [half of the season] and doing what they had done it would not be possible to catch them. But they drop a few points and we were there. Again, another season, and that means a lot to us.”
