GUARDIOLA PROVES HIS MAGIC ENDURES

Defeating Reds in milestone match shows City’s credentials and rekindles title hopes

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It felt a long way from Barcelona as a rain-soaked Pep Guardiola stood under an autumnal Manchester downpour on Nov 9, but there was no place he would rather be as the 1,000th game of his managerial career underlined that the magic still remains.

They said that in the 2024-25 season the Catalan, who made his name as a player and then set about becoming one of the world’s most decorated coaches in the city next to the Mediterranean, had lost his sparkle as Manchester City were dethroned.

But a 3-0 win over an outclassed Liverpool - the team who have been his biggest rivals since arriving in England in 2016 and in the 2024-25 season ended City’s English Premier League dominance — proved talk of his demise was premature.

Arsenal still lead the table by four points but their manager Mikel Arteta, Guardiola’s former assistant at City, might not be sitting quite as comfortably now.

With the likes of serial trophy winners Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker and IIkay Gundogan gone and newcomers struggling to find their feet, it has felt like City have been stuck in transition since winning the last of their six Premier League titles under Guardiola in 2023-24.