Premier League Insider: Why Guardiola’s reputation as a football genius is on the line again

After Manchester City’s recent success, a 2-0 commercial win over the Premier League, there was a dispute among the experts. Brentford boss Thomas Frank has described the England champions, who will certainly soon be, as the best team in the world. The inconsistency came – from everything! City coach Pep Guardiola. In his opinion, Champions League winners Chelsea or Palmeiras Sao Paulo, who meet in the Club World Cup final on Saturday, deserve the status of the best team in the world.

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Strictly speaking, it is of course true: whoever wins the Club World Cup is officially the best team on the planet, but Guardiola also knows that the importance of the competition is in doubt. In England they still see it this way: the best team in the world dominates the Premier League. And that’s what Manchester City are doing again this season. Barring the unexpected sinking of the United Kingdom, Guardiola’s side will lift the FA Cup for the fourth time in five years in May. Only in 2019/2020 Liverpool thwarted Manchester City’s only referee.

Otherwise: glory sky blue, this season too. At the turn of the year, potential rivals Chelsea and Liverpool were forced to abandon the prospect of winning the title. Even if Liverpool played a game less than City and could cut the difference to six points by beating Arsenal in a catch-up match, no one in England would expect Guardiola’s team to lose the title. The fact that the 1-1 draw against Southampton was recently discussed by Al Jazeera fans as a defeat shows how unusual it is for Manchester City to drop points. Years ago, Guardiola’s team reached a level of perfection that we have not seen in English football.

However, the true greatness of the club will once again be determined elsewhere, namely in The Champions League, which will resume next week. Manchester City travel to Lisbon in the first leg of the round of 16 against Sporting. The silver handle is known to be the holy grail of club owners from Abu Dhabi. To achieve this, Guardiola has the most expensive squad available in the world of football. But so far, the club has failed five times under the coach, most recently in the final at Chelsea. The failed tactical and personal maneuvers by Guardiola always contributed to the end. The usual self-sabotage scratches the coach’s reputation as a football genius.