Pep Guardiola backtracked on his Premier League title claim after Manchester City’s disappointing 1-1 draw at West Ham.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Guardiola said Man City were aware the title race would be ‘over’ if they ‘dropped points’ at the London Stadium.
Unfortunately for Guardiola’s side that is exactly what happened, with Konstantinos Mavropanos’ header cancelling out Bernardo Silva’s opener and earning West Ham a valuable point in their battle to avoid relegation.
Speaking before Man City’s trip to West Ham, Guardiola said: ‘Tomorrow night we have a game, an important one for the Premier League position.
‘Then we have the second leg [of their Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid] on Tuesday. We’re used to it, no? For many years we’ve lived these kind of situations.
‘Now it’s West Ham and after that we will have time to think about it. Play the game you have to play and after the game will dictate if you have a chance or not.
‘We don’t have many dollars in the bank but we will see on Tuesday. Now it’s West Ham.
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‘The Premier League is the most difficult title. We’re still there, knowing that if we drop points it will be over.’
A second successive Premier League draw leaves Manchester City nine points behind title rivals Arsenal, who beat Everton 2-0 earlier in the day.
The Gunners also looked set to drop points before late goals from Viktor Gyokeres and 16-year-old Max Dowman earned Arsenal the three points.
Arsenal now have one hand on the Premier League trophy but Guardiola has warned the north London the title race is ‘not over’.
‘It’s not over,’ Guardiola insisted. ‘We didn’t lose. It’s not over. We will continue.
‘It’s so difficult but we have a game in hand and this game at home against Arsenal. I’m not saying it will be easy to beat them but there is hope. Always, you have to be there.
‘I don’t know how they [Arsenal] are playing because I didn’t see the last games but I have a few things that I like. It could be better, but it is what it is.
‘Nine points is a lot against Arsenal but we have to try until the end. When it is not possible, then we congratulate the champion, but we have to try.’
Arsenal put their Premier League aspirations to one side on Tuesday as they face Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. The first leg ended 1-1.
Manchester City, meanwhile, will try to overturn a three-goal first-leg deficit against Spanish giants Real Madrid on the same night.
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