Manchester City have regained the Premier League title, their fifth in the last ten years and their third in four seasons under Pep Guardiola.
City’s title victory was confirmed on Tuesday night, as Manchester United lost 2-1 at home to Leicester City, leaving them 10 points behind their Manchester rivals with three games to play.
Guardiola’s side have also won the League Cup this season, and are lining up against fellow Premier League side Chelsea in the Champions League final on 29 May.
So, what next for the all-conquering Blues?
In terms of winning competitions, Guardiola will already be looking ahead, not just to the Champions League final but to next season’s Premier League.
A betting man would say it’s going to be close and you wouldn’t like to decide between Chelsea and City, especially since Thomas Tuchel’s team knocked City out of the FA Cup, and just this Saturday delayed their title victory by beating them 2-1.
However, City remain odds-on favourites for the competition, and given the betting bonuses that are out there, such as the codigo bonus bet.pt , if you are tempted to plump for them, it’s worth looking into.
As soon as the Champions League final is done, Guardiola will be looking ahead to next season, and City will face stiffer Premier League competition.
Manchester United have improved as the season has gone on, and won’t be hindered by the delayed and then early starting Europa League campaigns that stuttered their start to this season.
Chelsea have been arguably the best team in Europe since Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard and both them and United are expected to spend heavily again in the summer.
And then there’s Liverpool, who were held back this season by key injuries, but are also expected to come back stronger next time out.
Nevertheless, Guardiola will back his side to keep delivering.
Star-striker Sergio Aguero needs to be replaced, and their aging midfield has been held together by the resurgence of Gundogan, but Ruben Dias has shored up a previously shaky backline and Phil Foden has had a breakthrough year.
There are no huge questions for Manchester City to answer in terms of their squad this summer, although you would still expect the team to spend hundreds of millions of pounds to rejuvenate it.
And then there’s Guardiola himself.
Under contract until summer 2023, there’s no reason to suggest Guardiola is going anywhere sooner than that.
If he can win the Champions League, it will be his third overall, matching the record of Bob Paisley, Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.
Nobody has ever won four European Cups, and Guardiola will surely think he has no better chance to do so than staying at City.
So the signs are positive for Manchester City looking ahead to next season and there’s no reason to think that they can’t stay positive for the foreseeable future.
Featured image credit: Dull Hunk on Flickr via CC BY 2.0 Creative Commons license
