As part of the tradition in respecting a newly crowned champion, the opponents usually give them a guard of honour. This will have to be done by Manchester City when they welcome new Premier League champions, Liverpool, to the Etihad in midweek for a Premier League tie on Thursday.
Coach of the dethroned champions, Pep Guardiola, who has also been the recipients of a guard of honour on several occasions, said his players would maintain the tradition. This will be the first Liverpool will be getting in 30 years after breaking the jinx, courtesy of Chelse’s 2-1 win over the Citizens at the Stamford Bridge in midweek.
“We are going to do the guard of honour of course. We will greet Liverpool when they come to our house, incredibly. We are going to do it because they deserve it,” said City boss Guardiola.
Guardiola speaks on his Man City future
Meanwhile, the former Barcelona coach is yet to reveal if he will be to extending his City contract when it expires in 2021, with speculation surrounding his future.
Although Guardiola had admitted loving the club that would know early next month if it’s going to participate in next season’s UEFA Champions League due to an alleged breach of FFP rule, the Spaniard is yet to give a clue if he is going to stay beyond his faith year with the Citizens.
Spending five years at City means that he would stay longer than he was in charge of Barcelona. Speaking ahead of today’s FA Cup quarter-final at Newcastle, Guardiola said: “I am incredibly hungry for this part of the season and the next one, and after that, we will see.
“I am incredibly satisfied to be at this club. I don’t want to think too much about things that are far away.”
Man City eyeing other trophies
With the Premier League trophy out of their grasp, Manchester City will be looking to win others.
One that has eluded the club’s cabinet is the Champions League trophy. The noisy neighbours have a 2-1 advantage over Real Madrid at the Bernabeau. They look to be in cruise control of this. It won’t be a bad season if they lose the Premier League title and win the coveted elite clubs’ competition.
With domestic treble out of sight, they also have the chance to win the FA Cup and the Carling Cup. Their new journey to title challenges will start again today at St. James Park.
