Manchester City must win title or we will be 'destroyed', says Pep Guardiola

Ahead of the final weekend of the Premier League season, City sit one point clear at the top of the table

Pep Guardiola has told his Manchester City players that they have to win the Premier League title on Sunday or they risk being “destroyed”.

Ahead of the final weekend of the Premier League season, City sit one point clear at the top of the table and their fate rests in their own hands.

A win at Brighton and Hove Albion will guarantee that the champions retain their crown. Anything less will give challengers Liverpool a chance to overtake them.

After picking up a minimum of 195 points over the course of two league campaign, Guardiola will be proud of his players whatever the final outcome on Sunday.

But, having felt City were unfairly criticised for their Champions League exit last month, he warned that failure to win the league would lead to those same players being judged.

“It’s normal, I’m not going to change my opinion on what we have done. But of course, to get more credit, you have to win,” Guardiola said.

“We saw in the Champions League, won once but when you are out, everybody destroyed the teams, destroyed managers, destroyed clubs, [even though] they are doing well.

“We know in the life in which we live, I know we will be judged. We have to win.”

City find themselves in pole position ahead of the final weekend despite being seven points adrift of Liverpool at the turn of the year.

A record of 17 wins from their last 18 games has helped the champions catch and then move past their title rivals. Another three points will make their lead unassailable.

“It’s a dream to be here,” Guardiola said. “I didn’t expect it when we were seven points behind against this Liverpool to be in the position we are now. So that’s why it’s a dream come true.

“We’ve shown many things, but now is not the moment to say how well we’ve done – we have the chance to be champions if we win our game and that’s what we have to do.

“If we make it back-to-back [titles] it would be nice but nothing is going to change too much. The fact we have done incredibly well all season in all competitions and now have two games – two finals – for two titles, we must be strong mentally knowing it’s going to be tough.

“We must play well, be strong mentally, knowing it will be tough, difficult, how we react even if we have bad moments and we try to make a good game. Focus on the game – how we want to play – and not worry too much [about the rest].

“If the game is running into problems, be calm and think about what you have to do. You may have to go crazy in the last five, 10, 15 minutes but before that we have a plan and follow the plan to win the game – what we have done all season.”