Despite Liverpool not being in direct competition with Manchester City this season, Pep Guardiola still holds the team in high regard
Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, maintains that his opinion of Liverpool has not changed despite their disappointing season in 2022-23.
On Saturday, Liverpool will play against Guardiola’s City, and it seems that their season is essentially finished. Liverpool has been out of the running for the Premier League title for a while now, and securing a top-four spot will be a significant challenge for them.
Liverpool has failed to win the EFL Cup and were eliminated from the FA Cup and Champions League, which is a stark contrast to their performance last season.
Guardiola calls winning the Treble ‘difficult’
In the previous season, they challenged City until the last day and came close to winning a quadruple but settled for two domestic titles.
Despite their struggles this season, Guardiola anticipates Liverpool will bounce back, even though he cannot explain their inconsistency. Currently, City is competing with Arsenal for the Premier League title.
“They remain an exceptional team,” said the City manager. “My opinion doesn’t change for one season of ups and downs. Every club can have a season of ups and downs.
“Now, the biggest rival is a different one this season. But with what happened in the past and in the future, they could be a big rival.
“For one game, absolutely, they can beat everyone, like we can beat everyone. One game is one game.
“It’s about being consistent, and always Liverpool have been. This season… I don’t know why [they have not been], because I’m not there, and honestly I don’t care. I don’t know the reason why, so you’ll have to ask my colleague.”
While Liverpool has had a season with fluctuations in performance, Manchester City has a chance to end their season on a remarkable high. They are currently in second place in the Premier League, and have reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the Champions League, putting them in contention for a treble.
But Guardiola continues to take one game at a time, explaining: “It’s the best approach we can have. It can be boring, maybe it would be better if I said the opposite, but the reality is it’s [about] the next game. Otherwise it cannot happen.
“I’ve said many times: just one team in the history of the Premier League won the treble – the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup – because it’s so difficult. That’s why we should not think about these kind of things.
“We have this game, then we have a long week and after a tough, tough schedule with many games. The most important thing is that we are still fighting.
“We are in all competitions. That is awesome, that is so good.”
