Pep Guardiola hails players resilience after Manchester City are crowned Premier League champions
Manchester City s focus will now shift towards their Champions League final against Chelsea
May 12, 2021 06:56 BST
Manchester City finally got their hands on the champagne after they were crowned 2020-21 English Premier League Champions following Manchester United s 2-1 loss to Leicester City on Tuesday night.
Pep Guardiola s team had to hold off on their celebrations for a few days after their late defeat to Chelsea on Saturday and United s win over Aston Villa. But United s loss to Brendan Rodgers team on Tuesday confirmed City as the domestic champions.
Guardiola reveals pride at securing the toughest Premier League title yet
Rob Pollard
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Pep Guardiola has spoken of his pride at winning the 2020-21 Premier League title, which he says has been the toughest campaign of his five-year Manchester City tenure.
It’s City’s third league title win in four seasons and the tenth major trophy won under Guardiola’s management.
Our first Premier League success under his leadership in 2017-18 saw us cruise to the title with an English football record 100 points as we finished 19 clear of second-placed Manchester United.
That was followed by a remarkable 98 points the following campaign as we edged out a superb Liverpool side to become the first team in 10 years to win back-to-back Premier League trophies.
Kai Havertz s disjointed and illness-affected start to the season looked a distant memory as the German found his feet in time for a Champions League final, writes Phil McNulty.
England legends, Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen have singled out Chelsea’s Kai Havertz for praise in the Blues 2-0 win over Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
They also believe that Chelsea will be a big problem for Manchester City at the final because of their strong character.
Two goals from Timo Werner and Mason Mount set up an all Premier League Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City.
Ferdinand and Owen are backing Havertz to become a great player at Chelsea while comparing the Germany International to former United and Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov.
Havertz had a difficult start to his Chelsea coupled with a spell out of the team with coronavirus but he is beginning to flourish.
When Is the Champions League Final 2021? Semifinals Bracket, TV Schedule, Live Stream
On 5/4/21 at 8:01 AM EDT
The Champions League final could be an all-English affair this season, with Manchester City and Chelsea both taking an advantage in the second legs against Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid respectively.
In the competition s history, only twice has European soccer s biggest prize being contested by two English teams Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalties in 2008 and Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur in 2019 but the Premier League could have two representatives in the final later this month.
City, the Premier League-champions elect, hosts PSG on Tuesday after winning 2-1 in Paris last week, while Chelsea welcomes Real Madrid on Wednesday after returning from Spain with a valuable 1-1 draw a week ago.