Pep Guardiola admitted that Manchester City's title race would be over if they fail to win against Chelsea.
Manchester City is currently nine points behind Arsenal in the Premier League standings.
Bournemouth's win over Arsenal provided Manchester City an opportunity to close the gap in the title race.
The crucial match between Manchester City and Chelsea is scheduled for Sunday.
Pep Guardiola stated that Manchester City must win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to keep their title hopes alive. He acknowledged Arsenal's significant nine-point lead despite their recent loss to Bournemouth.
Title race over if Manchester City donât beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, admits Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola has admitted that Sundayâs Premier League clash with Chelsea is a must-win if Manchester City want to catch Arsenal in the title race.
The Gunners suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat to Bournemouth on Saturday, handing City an opportunity to cut the gap at the top of the table.
However, the nine-point deficit that separates the two clubs â with Arsenal also holding a game in hand â means Guardiola is under no illusions about the scale of the task that remains, with the City manager knowing exactly where his side stand heading into one of the most pivotal weeks of their season.
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City arrive at Stamford Bridge on the back of their best run of form of the campaign, having beaten Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final and demolished Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final in successive outings either side of the international break.
Assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders had already called on the squad to push Arsenal all the way as the Gunners showed signs of faltering â and Saturdayâs result at the Emirates Stadium has only intensified the sense of possibility around Manchester Cityâs run-in.
Previewing this weekendâs clash in west London on Friday, Guardiola was honest about what Sundayâs result means for the title race â and made clear that no press conference before next weekâs Arsenal clash would be necessary if City fail to pick up three points in west London.
âWe donât have to make⊠Listen, Iâm not to confess something special to the fact that what we have to do to be, until the last games of the season, Aston Villa or Brentford before, or Crystal Palace, to try to fight for the league,â he said in a press conference on Friday.
âTalking about Arsenal? If you donât win in Stamford Bridge, that is not an easy place to go, maybe you donât need to make the press conference before Arsenal, because it will be over. Everybody knows it. You know it, I know it, the players know it, everybody knows it in England. Thereâs how many games left, you have to win all of them. Itâs not one draw, no, forget about it.
âNine points is a lot of points against that Arsenal. But if we win there (at Stamford Bridge), if we win against Arsenal at home, and of course, you always live the illusion. The wish is always there to try to do it but in reality, Iâm not naive to say itâs going to happen.
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âWith West Ham and Nottingham (Forest), we played to win both games, and we had points, of course we have a chance, because it was in our hands, it was Arsenal who had to come here (to the Etihad Stadium next weekend), but itâs what it is.
âAt the end, itâs fair enough. The Premier League is the most difficult competition. For me, the most prestigious, it doesnât matter â itâs the most difficult because itâs 11 months, 38 fixtures, every cup and many, many things. And thatâs why I give a lot of credit when we won or the opponents won these titles.â
Pressed on whether he believes Cirty represent the last team Arsenal would want chasing them down the stretch, Guardiola refused to overstate his sideâs chances while crediting the remarkable consistency shown by Mikel Arteta and co in the league since August 2025.
âI donât know whatâs going to happen,â Guardiola added. âThe gap is big. I cannot deny it. Nine points, one game in hand but you have to win this game in hand. So this thing is big.
âI think Nottingham Forest and West Ham punished us a lot, to not be, âMaybe we can do it againâ. The gap is big. Iâm saying now, not before the game against them (Arsenal) next week. Beating Arsenal once is⊠Imagine twice, and look again.
âIn the Champions League, they (Arsenal) didnât lose one game. They won all and drew one. Arguably the numbers and the way, the consistency, solid and everything, all the details, itâs top.â
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On the subject of Manchester Cityâs famed winning aura under his stewardship â a period that has yielded six Premier League titles in nine seasons â Guardiola was equally measured.
âThe aura is when you start on Sunday at 4:30pm, behaving like you have to behave,â the Manchester City manager said. âThe aura doesnât make you win, or make results.
âBut most of the players, not now, but in the recent past, itâs just âOkay, we have done it many times, we can do it againâ, and knowing exactly if there are 10, 15, 20 games left; okay, you have to win every single game.
âAnd we have done it in the past, so we can do it â or maybe we know exactly what we have to do to win it. But that doesnât define the season in the Premier League. The season in the Premier League is 11 months. In the 11 months there are a lot of games that we were good but not good enough to win the games.
âLike in the past, we always found a way to win the games, playing really, really bad, but we had the way to win games. And this season we didnât find it. In terms of points, weâre not comparing the season with Jurgen (Klopp), Liverpool (90 points) or Arsenal 90, 89, 80 (points). I donât know, this season â we have not been the best.
âBut I think I give the opinion, there are a lot of new things, a lot of new players, and this time give a lot of the players and personalities that we had in the past, that right now we are building on that in the future. We will be ready to be closer in terms of, or at least continue to fight for the Premier League.â
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On whether something has finally clicked for City in recent weeks, Guardiola was characteristically self-critical while remaining defiant about what is still possible between now and the end of the season.
âThe click should have been done earlier, right? Weâd have had more chances,â the Catalan added. âSometimes itâs later, itâs what it is. I said that we are able to do it. We are able to do it. But to win the title you have to do it every single three days, and the team still was not during this season.
âBut still we are there. We have a semi-final FA Cup ahead of us to reach another final FA Cup and the Premier League, until itâs over, itâs not over. So we have to go there, do our performance.
âBut we proved even in October (2025), in early moments and games like, wow. And after that we dropped. We are not being stable like Arsenal proved this season for many reasons. But itâs a good lesson and for the next season weâll be better.â
Cityâs FA Cup semi-final against Southampton at Wembley lies just around the corner, with Guardiolaâs side still very much in the hunt for a domestic treble.
However, the 55-year-oldâs comments make clear that Sundayâs trip to Stamford Bridge carries consequences that extend well beyond the cup â and that in the Premier League at least, the margin for error has officially run out.
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