Don’t write Man City out of PL title – Pep warns major rivals

Pep Guardiola has warned Manchester City’s rivals that it would be a mistake to write them off in the Premier League title race.

City are back in action against Everton on Wednesday after returning from Saudi Arabia where they won the Club World Cup, their fifth trophy of 2023.

They’ve only won one of their last six league games, slipping to fifth in the table, but Guardiola suggested it would be foolish to doubt a team which has won the title in five of the last six years.

“This is the business,” Guardiola said. “When you don’t win you are nothing, zero. As much as you win they want you to fail more than ever. But what we have won, the titles, is unbelievable.

“In the moment you don’t win there are going to be doubts but that is what is nice. That is OK. Doubt again. We’ll see what happens. We played quite similar to the best levels we have played these past eight years. But we don’t win so it’s a crisis, a disaster.”

After lifting the Club World Cup in Jeddah, Guardiola said he had “closed a chapter” at City after winning every trophy available in his seven-and-a-half years at the club.

The 52-year-old has a contract at the Etihad Stadium until 2025 and insists he’s still motivated to win more silverware before he departs. Winning the title this season would make it a record fourth in a row.

“We try it again,” Guardiola said. “The players teach us and teach me and we try to drive them. The greatest athletes forget as quickly as possible the success. Around the corner is another competition and you have to try it again. The satisfaction of what we have done will remain but we have to do it again.'”