Pep Guardiola has made a prediction about the new season, and it might worry some Manchester City fans.
City enjoyed arguably the most successful season in the club’s history in 2022/23, winning a historic treble that included a first-ever Champions League title.
However, the City boss has warned that it will be difficult for his team to repeat that achievement this season.
Pep makes worrying prediction
“I don’t think it will be possible for us to do what we did last season,” the City boss told reporters on Thursday ahead of his side’s Premier League opener against Burnley on Friday evening.
Aside from winning the Champions League for the first time in the club’s history – recording stunning victories against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way – City’s other achievements will be hard to replicate.
Guardiola’s side overhauled an eight-point deficit to beat Arsenal to the Premier League title, and inflicted two damaging defeats on Mikel Arteta’s side.
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The fact that Arsenal took 50 points from their first 19 matches made it even more remarkable that City ended up topping the table by a five-point margin.
City’s triumph in the FA Cup final will likely never be repeated.
It took Ilkay Gundogan just 13 seconds to give City the lead against arch-rivals Manchester United with an incredible strike, the victory made even sweeter by the fact it came in the first-ever Manchester derby FA Cup final.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of City’s campaign was that less than five months before lifting the Champions League trophy in Istanbul, it looked like Guardiola’s side might end up without any silverware at all.
City were in a bad place in January, with Guardiola resorting to publicly criticise the attitude of his stars.
Such a successful season being born out of a period of real struggle is surely something City will not be able to repeat.