Maybe this season will always be remembered forLiverpool's bid to win everything, but Manchester City deserve better than that.
City need seven points from their last three games to win the title for the fourth time in the past five years, after drawing with Spurs and then beating Newcastle this weekend. If they do it, it would be the first time in the history of the premier league that it has been done by Manchester United. It is an achievement worthy of more than a slight at the bottom of the quest for history.
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The team has already ensured they will play in every game this season, which is impressive in itself, and could yet end the campaign with a trophy. If City can get over the line in the premier league, they will confirm their status as the dominant force in English football. Not even the best team in the world can match the consistency of success thatLiverpool have.
The City manager said that everyone in this country supports the team.
The situation is what it is. We need to do nine points or six right now, it depends on what happens in the next two games in terms of goal difference, but Wednesday is the real, real final for us.
We are going to try to win there. Our fate is in our hands. We have to look in the mirror. Nothing has changed with one point or three points. We have to do it.
It was a testament to how quickly football can change that a game against a team that was meant to be a test of City's mental strength ended up being a chance to win the title. The best tonic for the psychological scars left by the late capitulation at the Bernabeu was a Son Heung-Min goal.
The fixture that could have been awkward was negotiated with relative ease after the draw between Spurs and the Reds on Saturday night. The visitors probably should have taken the lead when Chris Wood was presented with a free head six yards out, but it was the only scare during an otherwise comfortable afternoon. With three games to play, City are three points clear at the top.
The flight back from Madrid on Thursday morning was full of supporters worried that the chastening experience in the European competition might prompt an implosion in the title race, but by the time the first goal was scored, chants of "champions, champion" were already being heard. Ahead of the trip to Wolves on Wednesday, lifting the mood shouldn't be a problem.
City would need a point from their final game against Villa to be crowned champion again. Not bad for a team that was supposed to be cracking up.
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Do you have any doubts about what this team has done? We do this every three days for the last five years. Some people don't know the team. It is one of the best groups I have ever trained.
Three points, nine points to play for, four ahead on goal difference. Another final against Wolves. The goal difference between us and the other team can happen. It was important that we won.
Hopefully we can get to the game on the last day of the season with the chance to stay in the league. We have tough games before that. We are going to try.
He might never get over the disappointment of Madrid. It's hard to get over an inexplicable collapse in the semifinals of the European Championship, but a second title in five years is more than just a consolation.
It should not be forgotten that City are also within touching distance of their own slice of history, even though no one has gotten as close to a quadruple as they are now.