Guardiola: I'm the happiest man when fighting for a title

When a season reaches its conclusion and with so many different competitions to consider such as the FA Cup, Premier League and UEFA Champions League you’d think Pep Guardiola would be getting stressed.

But in fact it’s a time of the year the Manchester City boss relishes.

“In September, October, November I enjoy less,” Guardiola told Man City's website. “When we arrive in the last stages, fighting for the title, I’m the happiest man in the world. I love to be here.

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“What’s going to happen? I don't know. [If we’re] going to win, everything is going to be perfect. If we lose, we will be a failure.

“Nothing is going to change. The day after, [there will be a] sunrise. We will try it again in the future.

“This is the mindset we will need to do. We have done it in the past, that's why I'm incredibly happy with the players I have. The club we are."

It’s certainly a time of the season where City under Guardiola have thrived, even when the sole focus cannot be on the Premier League.

Looking at the final 10 league matches of the past six seasons under the Spaniard, City’s tally of 145 points from a 180 is the best in the division.

In three of those seasons, City’s record in the final 10 league matches has been No 1 out of all 20 clubs for that campaign. They have lost only six matches out of the 60 and not dropped more than seven points from 30 in a season run-in. 

City's run-ins under Guardiola

And it appears that another strong run-in is gathering apace as the club are on a five-match winning streak in the league, their longest of the season so far.  

This doesn’t bode well for Arsenal, who dropped points for the first time in eight matches with their 2-2 draw against Liverpool.

City are now six points behind the leaders with a match in hand and a fixture at home to Arsenal on 26 April.

With a superior goal difference to Arsenal, it means that the title is now in City’s hands. Win all their remaining matches and they will be only the second club to claim a historic three titles in a row, after Manchester United did so twice, between 1998-2001 and 2006-09.

Title race

Position Pos	Club	Played Pl	GD	Points Pts
1	Manchester City MCI	38	+61	89
2	Arsenal ARS	38	+45	84

Full table

De Bruyne: We focus on ourselves 

Certainly, Kevin De Bruyne is keen to focus only on what City can do.

“We know we are behind [Arsenal], but we can only control what we can control,” the midfielder told Man City's website, speaking before the Gunners drew at Anfield. “We know there’s a lot of games to play, we know tough periods are ahead and every game is a must win.

“We’ve been in this situation before, and we focus on ourselves.”

Danny Murphy feels it will be difficult for City to win every match, what with a UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, starting this week, also to negotiate, but knowing the title is in their hands will be boost.

“That will give the group a spring in their step because you are responsible for your own destiny,” says the ex-Liverpool midfielder.

The matches against Bayern bracket the home match next Saturday against a struggling Leicester City who have claimed one point from a possible 24.

Then comes the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley against Championship side Sheffield United.

City then have a few days to prepare for the potential defining fixture with Arsenal before a weekend trip to another side struggling for form, Fulham.

Then come two home matches against teams in the relegation fight, West Ham United and Leeds United.

If they get past Bayern, the two legs of the UEFA Champions League semi-final will take place on 9-10 and 16-17 May, either side of a trip to Everton.

Then City face Chelsea at home and Brentford away with a trip to Brighton & Hove Albion, which was postponed by the FA Cup semi-final, possibly rescheduled to some day in the final two weeks of the season.

Man City's run-in

*Subject to change