Manchester City: Has Pep Guardiola turned the Premier League into a 'farmers league'?

Pep Guardiola led Manchester City to Premier League glory last season | Imago

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Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have turned the Premier League into a farmers league

MYTHBUSTER Manchester City: Has Pep Guardiola turned the Premier League into a 'farmers league'?

Seye Omidiora 22:24 - 07.07.2023

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are seeking a fourth straight Premier League title, making some observers wonder if the Cityzens are untouchable.

Manchester City matched Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United treble winners at the backend of last season with a Champions League victory over Inter Milan in Istanbul.

Pep Guardiola’s irrepressible side reached the feat by claiming yet another Premier League title, winning their third on the trot, equalling a three-peat achieved on two occasions by Ferguson’s Red Devils.

Has Guardiola turned the Premier League into a “farmers league”?

For anyone who has been keeping score, that is now five league titles for Guardiola in six years, suggesting unrivalled dominance for the Cityzens in England’s top flight.

However, it is not that simplistic.

A closer look at the final league table in the last three campaigns shows that the claim could not be farther from the truth.

The 2020-21 season admittedly ended with Guardiola’s men finishing 12 points ahead of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men, but the subsequent two years have witnessed close title tussles.

Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool pushed City until the final gameweek and even led the table on the last day when Aston Villa led Guardiola’s men 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, threatening to rain on the home side’s parade.

The Manchester outfit turned the game on its head to win 3-2 to thwart Liverpool’s chances of a second Premier League title in three years by retaining the trophy.

Last season was not as dramatic, but the five-point lead over Arsenal did not tell the complete story of City’s season.

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Not only were Mikel Arteta’s Gunners the likeliest side to dethrone Guardiola’s men, but the North London side held a five-point advantage with nine games remaining.

A green Arsenal side tailed off in the season's final weeks just as City grew in stature after their manager threw down the gauntlet in early February.

Manchester City’s last two Premier League wins have been far from easy, with the Cityzens having to dig deep to claim the titles in 2022 and 2023.

One of their two triumphs before Liverpool’s first success in a generation also saw Klopp’s charges pose a credible threat to the Cityzens, who won the 2018-19 title by a point on the last day.

Despite the stranglehold in recent years under the former Barcelona manager, Manchester City’s Premier League success have by no means been a walk in the park. They have had to ward off the challenge of Liverpool and Arsenal and have coped immeasurably well with an improving league-wide standard.

The chasm in quality does not seem as wide as the Bundesliga — another competition degraded as a one-club division.

Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga hegemony

Thomas Tuchel’s side were given a fright by Borussia Dortmund until the last kick of the 2022-23 season, but the Bavarians sealed an 11th straight league triumph.

Thomas Tuchel came in mid-season to win the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich
Thomas Tuchel came in mid-season to win the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich Thomas Tuchel came in mid-season to win the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich

By no means intended to water down Die Bayern’s impressive stranglehold in Germany, greater clarity regarding the giants’ dominance is understood after going through each year’s success.

Dortmund have been FC Hollywood’s closest challenger, and BVB’s last triumph came in 2011-12 when Klopp led the club to back-to-back wins. The margin between first and second in 2010-11 and 11-12 was seven and eight points, respectively.

Jurgen Klopp Dortmund Bundesliga
Jurgen Klopp's Dortmund side were the last team to prevent Bayern from claiming the Bundesliga

A look at the subsequent years in the Bundesliga demonstrates Bayern’s dominance. The Bavarians held a 25-point lead over Dortmund after gameweek 34 in 2012-13. In the consequent season, it was 19 points.

Wolfsburg finished the 2014-15 season 10 points adrift of the dominant club in Germany before Dortmund replaced the Wolves in second place the following year, ending 10 points back of Bayern.

RB Leipzig replaced BVB as runners-up, finishing 15 behind the league champions, who held a 21-point advantage over Schalke at the end of 2017-18.

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The 2018-19 campaign saw Dortmund miss an opportunity to supplant Bayern, with two points separating both clubs at the season’s climax. 

But that outcome was an anomaly, as FC Hollywood finished the following season 13 points ahead of Die Borussen.

Three seasons back saw Bayern end 13 clear of Leipzig, while eight points separated the Bavarians from BVB in 2021-22.

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Verdict

Both 2018-19 and last season have been anomalous in the Bundesliga, with FC Hollywood often sealing their title triumphs with comparable ease.

Bayern’s financial clout and historical appeal help to secure the league’s best talents, with the Bavarians still seen as the competition’s destination club.

Manchester City have been consistent in England, but they are not on the same pedestal as FC Hollywood and would be pushed by an improved chasing pack in 2023-23.

The same cannot be said of the forthcoming Bundesliga season.

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