Pep Guardiola previews Chelsea clash
Pep Guardiola says the fluctuating fortunes of Chelsea serves as the perfect reminder to his Man City players that their stay at the top is not forever. The west London club won the title under Antonio Conte in Guardiola’s first season in charge at the Etihad in 2016-17.
But while City have gone on to dominate the domestic and European scene culminating in their treble winning season last campaign, Chelsea have floundered.
Guardiola was keen to point out his side found themselves on the wrong side of the result against Chelsea in the Champions League Final. But given they have rotated through five changes of manager since that title triumph and finished no higher than third in the table, he admitted the club serves as a warning that the good times could easily leave the Etihad.
“Absolutely. I make no comment about Chelsea because I am not there but always we remind ourselves,” said the City boss, whose side have won five of the six titles since Chelsea’s triumph under Conte.
“The other day, we qualified for the Champions League knockout stages and the players were ‘so it’s normal.’ I said to them celebrate because one day, maybe we are not there if we stop doing what we have to do.
“Maybe the opponents are better than us and we will not be there. What we have done in the past, we are doing well, you can go down and the down never ends! You can be more and more and more.
“So that’s why we keep perspective, be calm, relax, good moments and bad moments are everywhere for every team in the world. Not for the fact we are just named Manchester City and the last years have been good does it mean that it’s going to happen in the future.
Last season Chelsea were a basket case, burning through hundreds of millions in the transfer market and finishing in the bottom half of the table in 12th.
But after appointing Mauricio Pochettino there have been signs of stability and improvement of late winning five of their last seven games.
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And while they were given a huge helping hand against a Spurs side on Monday which played over half an hour with nine men, Guardiola will not be underestimating them on Sunday.
“Every manager needs time and sooner or later, and I guess sooner rather than later, they will be a contender. The quality in all departments are there.
“They were not close to winning the Premier League in these seasons but they are one of the strongest teams. It’s one of the toughest games that we have during the season.
“At the same time, we will go there optimistic. This is what we have to maintain but sooner or later Chelsea will be fighting for titles.”
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