The 2018/19 Premier League season was one of the most closely contested seasons in the recent past as Manchester City defended their crown successfully. They just edged past Liverpool by one point, who ended their season on 97 points. However, the way Pep Guardiola’s side kept their composure high through the up’s and down’s of the season was really commendable and one would reckon that they thoroughly deserved to be crowned the champions of England once again.
Liverpool, on the other hand, played the role of the title challengers to perfection as they kept breathing on the shoulders of the defending champions throughout the season. Jurgen Klopp’s philosophy of “Gegenpressing” got the Reds into the final of the Champions League but they fell short by just one point to submit to the Blues from Manchester.
One would, however, admit to the fact that Guardiola’s men were nowhere near the kind of “dominance” they had shown in the last term, i.e., the 2017/18 season in the Premier League. The second placed team in the season, Manchester United, trailed them by 19 points as they watched their “Noisy neighbors” finishing the season with a whopping total of 100 points. Seldom was seen this kind of dominance from a side who lost just one match in the whole season en route to their place on the Premier League champions’ podium.
Compared to that, the 2018/19 has been a little lackluster and a whole lot more of a roller-coaster ride for the defending champions. They were ravaged by injuries to a number of their key players while a few of them, including their captain and midfield maestro David Silva, was not able to perform to the best of their potential. They lost to sides like Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester City right before the mid-season break in December, which further jeopardized their situation in the title race as Liverpool took pole position.
Despite the odds, the immaculate forms of players like Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero and Bernardo Silva gave a world of hope to the Citizens as they marched on their way to make it back to the top of the table. It was an amazing race at the top of the table as Liverpool and Manchester City took turns after every match to take the pole position. However, Guardiola finally, and one would reckon deservedly, managed to have the last smile in the race at the top of the table which the World football fraternity will surely remember for a long time to come.
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