Sport
Guardiola says City treble ‘once in a lifetime’ feat
‘What we have done remains in our hearts and minds but it’s over. The history speaks for itself’
August 10, 2023 | 11:11 PM
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said yesterday that last season’s remarkable treble success was a "once in a lifetime” achievement as he tried to lower expectations on the eve of a new campaign.City, bidding to become the first side to win four consecutive English top-flight titles, start the Premier League season away to Burnley on Friday.They will be favourites for every competition they enter but Guardiola warned against a repeat of last term’s triumphs, which also saw City crowned champions of Europe for the first time as well as lifting the FA Cup."It feels like it finished yesterday but we start again,” Guardiola told a pre-match press conference yesterday."I don’t think it will be possible to do what we did last season, it’s once in a lifetime. I said to the players forget about it. We climbed the highest mountain last season but we have come down that mountain now. We start from the same as everyone else, with the same intention and there will be a lot of difficulties to climb the mountain again.”The summer has not been without its challenges for Pep Guardiola as captain Ilkay Gundogan departed to Barcelona and the riches on offer in Saudi Arabia was too much for Riyad Mahrez to turn down. City have also had to fight to retain Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva, while Croatian duo Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol are the new only two new arrivals in the transfer market so far.The 52-year-old Spaniard added: "What we have done remains in our hearts and minds but it’s over. The history speaks for itself but it is almost impossible to repeat.”Guardiola, meanwhile, refused to comment on speculation linking City, beaten on penalties by Arsenal in last weekend’s Community Shield at Wembley, with a move for West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta.But the former Barcelona boss was rather more forthcoming about the prospect of facing a Burnley side managed by his former City captain Vincent Kompany, who guided the Clarets back to the top flight at the first attempt. "Normally the first games are difficult, especially against newly-promoted teams because they have nothing to lose and the energy, the dream to do a good season,” said Guardiola."Apart from that, Vinny knows us well and he is doing an incredible job. He has changed the way Burnley play completely and they destroyed the Championship. It will be a tough, tough game.”Kompany has a statue outside the Etihad from his playing days, but he has quickly established himself as one of the brightest coaching talents on the continent.The former Belgian captain turned around a club in crisisduring his first season at Turf Moor to return Burnley to the Premier League with seven games to spare. The Clarets are a very different proposition to the side that punched above their weight to survive for six seasons in the top flight under Sean Dyche between 2016 and 2022.Inspired by Guardiola, Kompany has transformed Burnley into a side that dominate the ball."I would play every week of every month of every year against a team the level of Man City,” said Kompany. "That is the best way to improve. You won’t get them all right, it’s impossible with the quality of that team – possibly the best team at the moment in world football – but that’s the best challenge so I wouldn’t want it any different.”Burnley, though, did see the downside of opening up against City when they lost 6-0 in the FA Cup quarter-finals last season.Meanwhile, Arsenal appear best-placed to capitalise if City’s grip on the English game is to come to an end and will expect to get off to a flier at home to Nottingham Forest tomorrow.Liverpool and Chelsea face an early test of how they will bounce back from disappointing seasons when they face off at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.Optimism around Chelsea’s positive performances in pre-season under new boss Mauricio Pochettino has been punctured by the news that Christopher Nkunku will be sidelined for up to four months after undergoing knee surgery.The French international was brought to Stamford Bridge to ease the Blues’ goalscoring woes after they finished 12th last season – their lowest since 1994.Pochettino’s time in charge gets off to a testing start when Liverpool visit looking to put their own disappointment from last season behind them. But all is also not well at Anfield with fans frustrated at the lack of new arrivals.Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai are Jurgen Klopp’s only two new signings to help fill the void left by the departure of captain Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain and Roberto Firmino.The array of attacking weapons on offer to Klopp has shown in a free-scoring pre-season, but the Reds have also looked defensively weak with little protection for the back four from the midfield.Fixtures: (all times GMT)Friday: Burnley v Manchester City (1900)Saturday: Arsenal v Nottingham Forest (1130), Bournemouth v West Ham, Brighton v Luton, Everton v Fulham, Sheffield United v Crystal Palace (all 1400), Newcastle v Aston Villa (1630)Sunday: Brentford v Tottenham (1300), Chelsea v Liverpool (1530)Monday: Manchester United v Wolves (1900).
August 10, 2023 | 11:11 PM