'Have you seen Liverpool this season?': Guardiola pokes fun at rivals on breaking Man City's 100-point record

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took a cheeky dig at their Premier League rivals Liverpool ahead of their clash against Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, February 15. 

Manchester City might be going through a challenging phase this season, including a recent defeat against Real Madrid in their home leg of the Champions League knockout playoffs, but the Blues used to dominate the European Football, especially Premier League, securing multiple titles under Pep Guardiola and clinching a historic treble in the 2022-23 season. 

The defending Premier League champions hold the record for the most points in a single season of the tournament, achieving a remarkable 100-point in the 2017-18 campaign. Additionally, Manchester City have the distinction of being the only to win four consecutive titles in the history of the Premier League (2020/21 to 2023/24). 

Being one of the dominant forces in the Premier League over the last six years, Manchester City has been struggling to maintain their consistency this season. At the press conference ahead of City's match against Newcastle United, Pep Guardiola responded to the criticism over their inconsistent season, stating that his side has managed to take all the records in England. The Spanish manager poked fun at Liverpool over their possibility of breaking their 100-point Premier League record. 

“We took all the records in England. Who would score 100 points now in modern football? I'm waiting," Guardiola told reporters on Friday. 

“Or four in a row? I'm waiting - with clubs like Bournemouth, Fulham and Wolves that you have to play. The standards, we dictated. Have you seen Liverpool this season? They cannot do 100 points already - 99 but not 100." he added. 

Liverpool are currently at top of the Premier League with 57 points after 24 matches. Even if The Reds win the next 14 matches and earn three points from each game of the ongoing season of the tournament, they would finish with 99 points, falling short of Manchester City’s record 100-point tally from the 2017-2018 season. This means no team, including Liverpool will be able to surpass Pep Guardiola’s side's historic century mark this season. 

Despite being the defending champions of the Premier League and having won the titles four times on the trot, Manchester City failed to live up to the expectations as they are currently sitting fifth spot with 41 points, a massive points adrift of table toppers’ Liverpool. Guardiola admitted that his side has fallen behind their rivals this season. 

“I asked 'Gundo' (Ilkay Gundogan) yesterday, 'two years ago you were here, you were one year in Barcelona and you came back here, did you see changes in the Premier League?’ the 54-year-old said. 

“He said massively, the difference was unbelievable. It's the truth. The teams are much, much, much better in all departments. People prepare so well. We cannot do it for the (injury) problems we've had. There are a lot of players, with the amount of minutes they have had, who are so tired, emotionally as well.” he added. 

Pep Guardiola believes that his team deserves to have a bad season, while admitting that Manchester City did not have the best players in this season. 

“But guys, we deserve to have a bad season. We deserve not to be like we were. They are human beings, it can happen. We weren't consistent and we haven't had the players at their best.” Gaudriola said. 

“It's the first time that me and many of the players have lived this position but we have to accept it (and recognise) what happened in the past was not normal." he added. 

Apart from Manchester City’s chances of defending their Premier League looks slim, their chances to regain their Champions League do not seem to be possible, given their recent home leg defeat against Real Madrid in the knockout playoffs. The Blues were on the verge of early exit from the European league, but managed to qualify after defeating FC Brugge in the last league stage match. With the second leg taking place at the Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, City will face an uphill task in order to overcome the deficit and further progress to the round of 16 of the tournament.