LONDON, May 13: Pep Guardiola ramped up the pressure on his players ahead of Manchester City’s clash with Tottenham on Tuesday.
With two games to go in the Premier League season, defending champion City needs to pick up maximum points to be certain of winning the title.
And with rival Arsenal leading the standings by a point, having played a game more, Guardiola left his players in no doubt about what is required to win a record fourth-straight title.
“It’s obvious. We have just one option: win the game. We travel for that,” he said at a news conference Monday.
“The mindset is easy because if we don’t win, we don’t win the Premier League.” The title race will go down to the last day of the season after Arsenal beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday to move above City at the top of the standings.
But City will be in control of its own destiny and move two points clear at the top if it wins at Tottenham on Tuesday.
City has lost its last four Premier League visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but is unbeaten in the league since December and has won its last seven games in the top flight.
IRAOLA EXTENDS CONTRACT
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has signed a new contract through to the end of the 2026 season, the Premier League club said Monday.
The Spaniard signed a two-year deal when he was hired last summer and has gone on to lead Bournemouth to its highest points total in the Premier League with a game still to go.
“For me, it is a matter of renewing the confidence from both sides,” Iraola said. “We have had a good experience with our first season together in the Premier League, and I am happy that both sides want to continue the relationship further.”
Iraola replaced former manager Gary O’Neil last June and preserved the club’s topflight status despite failing to win any of his first nine league games in charge.
Bournemouth is 11th in the standings on 48 points. It’s previous highest total was 46 in 2016-17 under former manager Eddie Howe.
“I’m proud that we achieved the points record. We are playing in a difficult competition, with very good opposition,” Iraola said.
“The season started slowly, but I think we improved a lot and are playing in the right way.” (PTI)
