‘The battle line has been drawn,I will still repeat my treble’: Pep Guardiola sends strong message to Erik Ten Hag after trashing Burnley yesterday night
The reigning champions kick-off the 2023/24 campaign by making the trip to Turf Moor this evening to take on Vincent Kompany’s newly-promoted side.
Guardiola is expecting a tough start given they’re facing a Clarets side that has plenty of momentum from last season’s Championship title win.
“Normally the first games are difficult in itself, especially against the newly-promoted sides because they have nothing to lose and they have energy and the dream to do a good season,” the City boss said.
“He did an incredible job last season, because he changed completely the way Burnley play for the last years under Sean Dyche and he destroyed the Championship.
“He’s done an incredible job and I’m sure he’s going to do really, really well. It will be a tough, tough game, especially at the beginning of the season.”
It’s been a quick turnaround for Guardiola’s men off the back of their treble success last season.
The Spaniard warned City supporters not to expect a repeat of last season’s exploits, which culminated in that long-awaited Champions League victory in Istanbul.
“It feels like we finished yesterday but we start again. We start from zero and we try to take it game-by-game,” Guardiola added.
“It’s not a good idea in August and September to think about the title or this kind of thing, so we perform at our level and try and play better than the day before.
“I don’t think it will be possible to do what we did last season. It’s once in a lifetime. We climbed the highest mountain but the last few days we’ve come down the mountain and we start from the bottom again.
“There will be a lot of difficulties to climb as high as possible, but we will see. What we have done remains in our hearts and our minds but it is over.
“We start from zero, but the history speaks for itself. It’s almost impossible to repeat and we have to be aware of that.”
