Profiling Pep Guardiola’s Dominant Manchester City

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Profiling Pep Guardiola’s Dominant Manchester City

Saturday’s FA Community Shield fixture marks the beginning of the 2021/22 season as Leicester City compete against Manchester City for the first prize of the campaign.

2021-08-06T09:52:00.000Z

by Sam Jones

Published

06 Aug, 2021

Profiling Pep Guardiola’s Dominant Manchester City

Saturday’s FA Community Shield fixture marks the beginning of the 2021/22 season as Leicester City compete against Manchester City for the first prize of the campaign.

Sam Jones

2021-08-06T09:52:00.000Z

Profiling Pep Guardiola’s Dominant Manchester City

Saturday’s FA Community Shield fixture marks the beginning of the 2021/22 season as Leicester City compete against Manchester City for the first prize of the campaign.

Sam Jones

2021-08-06T09:52:00.000Z

Profiling Pep Guardiola’s Dominant Manchester City

Saturday’s FA Community Shield fixture marks the beginning of the 2021/22 season as Leicester City compete against Manchester City for the first prize of the campaign.

Sam Jones

2021-08-06T09:52:00.000Z

Profiling Pep Guardiola’s Dominant Manchester City

Saturday’s FA Community Shield fixture marks the beginning of the 2021/22 season as Leicester City compete against Manchester City for the first prize of the campaign.

Sam Jones

2021-08-06T09:52:00.000Z

Brendan Rodgers’ men will return to the site of their historic Emirates FA Cup triumph to contest the annual curtain-raiser at Wembley Stadium this weekend.

The Foxes are making their third appearance in the Community Shield while Manchester City have won the trophy twice under the management of Pep Guardiola, in both 2018 and 2019.

Ahead of the 5:30pm kick-off, LCFC.com takes a look at the reigning Premier League champions…

The story of 2020/21

City wrestled the Premier League back from Liverpool's grasp to claim a fifth title since 2012, becoming champions of England for the seventh time in their history.

The Manchester club were emphatic winners, collecting 86 points, 12 more than near neighbours Manchester United in second and 17 ahead of third place Liverpool.

After a slow start, Guardiola’s side clicked into gear and embarked on a 15-game winning streak in the league from to December to March, while also advancing in the UEFA Champions League, Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Their quest for a maiden Champions League triumph came to an end in the final, losing out 1-0 to Chelsea - the team that also knocked City out of the FA Cup by the same scoreline in the last-four.

However, a joint-record eighth League Cup was secured when City defeated Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the final at the national stadium on 25 April, 2021.

And the Premier League title was finally confirmed courtesy of Leicester City’s 2-1 win against Manchester United at Old Trafford a little over two weeks later.

The manager

Regarded as one of the world's leading managers, Pep Guardiola emerged as a player through the famous La Masia academy in Barcelona, before going on to win six La Liga titles at the Nou Camp.

As well as that excellent league record, the former defensive midfielder also lifted the Copa del Rey twice, the Supercopa de España on four occasions and one European Cup, in 1992 at Wembley.

An iconic figure in Johan Cruyff's 'Dream Team' at Barca, Guardiola was capped 47 times for Spain and later also represented Brescia, Roma, Al-Ahli and Dorados.

After returning to Barcelona as manager of the B side, Guardiola won the 2008 Segunda División B play-offs, earning him the big job in Catalonia, replacing Frank Rijkaard in 2008.

Barca first lifted the Copa del Rey, before a 6-2 win over rivals Real Madrid contributed to a La Liga title success, ahead of a UEFA Champions League Final win against Manchester United in Rome.

The La Liga throne was retained in 2010, too, as well as the Supercopa de España, alongside the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup as a golden era of success befell the Spanish giants.

Another Champions League victory over Manchester United, poetically at Wembley, followed in 2011 during a campaign which included a third consecutive La Liga title and another Supercopa de España.

Barca added another Copa del Rey to their impressive trophy haul in 2012 and, following a one-year sabbatical, the Santpedor-born manager returned to work at German powerhouse Bayern Munich in 2013, replacing Jupp Heynckes at Allianz Arena.

Guardiola proceeded to win three successive Bundesliga titles in Bavaria, two DFB-Pokals, including both the Super Cup and Club World Cup. While still Bayern's manager, he signed a contract with Manchester City in February 2016, before once again inspiring an era of domestic success at his new club.

During Guardiola's tenure, he has won three Premier League titles, in 2018, 2019 and 2021, while winning the FA Cup once and League Cup four times.

In 2018/19, Guardiola led City to their first-ever domestic treble - Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup - while also securing a sixth Community Shield. The following year, he signed a new two-year contract to remain at the club until 2023.

The stats

Perhaps surprisingly, top scoring for the Citizens last season was Germany midfielder İlkay Gündoğan, who managed 13 goals, three ahead of Raheem Sterling’s 10 strikes. Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez all had nine to their name.

Wingers Sterling and Mahrez were also regular assist contributors, totalling seven and six respectively, although the mercurial Kevin De Bruyne was way out in front, creating 12 goals for his team-mates – a stat only bettered in the Premier League by Harry Kane.

Brazil goalkeeper Ederson made more Premier League appearances than any other City player in 2020/21, playing 36 times, and won the Golden Glove after keeping 19 clean sheets.

Rodri (34) and Rúben Dias (32) were not far behind, while England international Sterling (31) was the only other player to feature more than 30 times in the top-flight for the title winners.

The fixtures

After facing Preston North End, Barnsley and Blackpool in pre-season, the Citizens begin the defence of their Premier League crown by taking on Tottenham Hotspur in north London on Sunday 15 August (4:30pm kick-off).

Back-to-back home matches follow against Sky Bet Championship champions Norwich City, on Saturday 21 August (3pm kick-off) and Arsenal, on Saturday 28 August (12:30pm kick-off).

Three top-flight fixtures come after the international break, starting with a trip to King Power Stadium to tackle Leicester City on Saturday 11 September (3pm kick-off), before facing Southampton (H) and then Chelsea (A).

The signings

Earlier this week, Jack Grealish completed his move from Aston Villa for a fee widely reported to be in the region of £100M - a British record transfer.

On loan at Manchester City for the past two seasons, veteran goalkeeper Scott Carson has made a permanent move to Etihad Stadium this summer after one Premier League appearance during 2020/21.

Talismanic forward Sergio Agüero, City’s all-time top goalscorer, has departed for FC Barcelona after a decade in Manchester, following Spanish centre-back Eric Garcia in making the Nou Camp his next destination.

Midfielders Jack Harrison and Angeliño have joined Leeds United and RB Leipzig respectively after successful loans spells, while another German Bundesliga side, Wolfsburg, recruited Lukas Nmecha for a transfer fee.

All times BST.

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