- Guardiola cheekily said he loves himself
- Did not expect City to be as impressive as they have been
- Coach hopes team wrap up title on Sunday
WHAT HAPPENED? The Catalan coach cheekily displayed his confidence in his own ability by saying "I love myself a lot" but underlined how impressive has team have been during his stay in Manchester. Guardiola arrived in Manchester after winning six league titles with Barcelona and Bayern Munich plus two Champions League titles with the Catalans. But he has had even more success at City on a domestic level. City are on the brink of a fifth Premier League title in seven years and on track to win the treble after outclassing Real Madrid 4-0 on Wednesday to reach the Champions League final, as well as being in the FA Cup final.
WHAT THEY SAID: "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."
THE BIGGER PICTURE: City can clinch their third consecutive Premier League title on Sunday at home to Chelsea after chasing down Arsenal, who had led the title race for most of the season. They could even win it on Saturday if Arsenal lose at Nottingham Forest but Guardiola said he was not going to watch that game with his players and hopes that they can be crowned champions in front of their own fans by beating 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."
IN TWO PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? City host Chelsea on Sunday before travelling to Brighton on Wednesday. Their final Premier League game is away to Brentford on May 28.