Guardiola: Liverpool 'played every game like it was the last'

Pep Guardiola hailed the relentlessness of Liverpool's title pursuit after Manchester City's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea handed Jurgen Klopp's side the Premier League crown on Thursday.

The Reds are now an insurmountable 23 points clear atop English football and are set to break numerous records - some of which were submitted by Guardiola's City - before their campaign concludes against Newcastle United on July 26. There are seven matchdays left of the Premier League season.

"They have played an incredible season," Guardiola said, according to The Guardian's Ed Aarons. "We are not consistent like the previous seasons - I think we arrive after four trophies in one season thinking: 'We have time, we have time,' but Liverpool won the Champions League and it gave them an incredible confidence.

"The fact that they had gone 30 years without winning the Premier League gave them incredible focus and they played every game like it was the last game. In the beginning we didn't play in that way and when they took that advantage of course the pressure on us was bigger."

Manchester City have lost eight of their 31 top-flight matches this season - two more than in their previous two campaigns combined. Their defensive vulnerability was evident at Stamford Bridge when miscommunication between Benjamin Mendy and Ilkay Gundogan led to Christian Pulisic's opener, and when Fernandinho desperately handled on the line, resulting in his dismissal and Willian's well-struck penalty.

Guardiola's squad now begins preparations for Sunday's FA Cup quarterfinal bout with Newcastle. Success in the competition would be the second major honor collected by City in the 2019-20 term after they hoisted the League Cup in March.

City are also on the hunt for Champions League glory. They hold a 2-1 aggregate advantage over Real Madrid prior to the home leg of their last-16 scuffle.

"We cannot forget that we won two titles," Guardiola added on his side's Premier League triumphs in 2017-18 and 2018-19. "This is incredible success for us, for the club; the last six, seven, eight years. So we have to take a little perspective, be humble, and say: 'Not all the time we can win.' And then we must learn what we need to do to avoid this situation again."