Pep Guardiola heaped praise on his rival bosses in the Premier League as the Manchester City manager claimed he has "never known this level before".
Guardiola's reigning top-flight champions are the runaway league leaders once more this season, sitting nine points clear of Liverpool going into the weekend – albeit Jurgen Klopp's side held a game in hand.
City created the gap at the summit with a 12-game winning streak in the league between October and January, which they embarked on after a 2-0 home loss to Crystal Palace.
That was the ninth run in the Premier League of 12 or more successive victories in the competition's history, with Guardiola responsible for four of those with City.
But the former Barcelona head coach believes the quality and variety of management styles is what makes England's top division different from any other in the world.
"I have never known this level before," Guardiola told Sky Sports in an interview released on Saturday.
"Of course, there are managers in Germany, Italy and Spain, but in the Premier League, these are the best managers, the elite managers. The quality, the preparation. The level is so high."
"The nice thing about the Premier League is that there are five or six different ways to play and, when you do it well, it works. It is not a pattern, teams playing one way all the time. Teams play differently even within a game, and you have to solve the problem.
"You cannot imagine the hard work that goes in behind the scenes. That is why it is so much more difficult to win games now than when I started 13 or 14 years ago.
"Compared to when I started at Barcelona, it has gone much, much further. The level has improved a lot. The quality, the methodology, the training sessions, the analysis of what exactly the opponent is going to do and what your team can do to punish them.
"Younger managers such as [Aston Villa's] Steven Gerrard and [Everton's] Frank Lampard, who were players when I became a manager, they are incredibly well prepared. They have a curiosity. They understand a lot. They study the reasons why, offensively and defensively.
"It is partly thanks to the facilities that we have now. The drones, the wide angles, the databases. Many things help to build a picture of who you are as a team and who the opponents are as a team. After that, you can take the decisions as a manager easily."
Guardiola has had success wherever he has gone, whether that be with City, Bayern Munich or Barcelona.
In fact, since the Spaniard took charge at the Etihad Stadium, City have collected 503 points in the Premier League – 36 more than second-placed Liverpool and 88 more than Chelsea in third.
However, the 51-year-old does not acknowledge his work as revolutionary and insisted some teams' biggest mistake is trying to replicate the identity of those who have previously had success.
"I did not come here to think I was going to change anything," he continued. "I did not do that in Munich either. I just do what I want. I want to influence my players. That is all. I am not arrogant enough to think I can control anything beyond my team.
"I remember years ago when teams would win the World Cup, whatever nationality, and afterwards we would all analyse the winner and say this is the tendency that we will see in the next years. Everyone wants to copy the winner. This is a big mistake. Football is not copy and paste."
Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa: Villans' top-four hopes stutter after late Pedro header
Aston Villa missed the chance to close in on a Champions League place after they were beaten 1-0 at Brighton.
Joao Pedro’s late header settled Sunday's contest at the Amex Stadium, the striker nodding in three minutes from time after Robin Olsen saved his initial penalty.
With fifth-placed Tottenham travelling to Liverpool later on Sunday, Villa could have taken a huge step towards sealing a place in Europe's top club competition with victory.
However, Unai Emery’s side remain fourth and seven points above Spurs, who have two games in hand, while Brighton climb to 11th.
The Seagulls carried the greater threat during a first half of few opportunities, with Simon Adingra stinging Olsen’s palms from distance.
Villa, who lost Morgan Rogers to injury midway through the half, also had Olsen to thank twice in first-half stoppage time. First, he kept out Adingra’s tame volley from a Pedro cross before also thwarting Pascal Gross from close range.
The hosts continued to look the more likely to break the deadlock after the interval. Olsen denied Pedro, while Julio Enciso fired narrowly over from distance.
Brighton thought they had taken the lead inside the final quarter when Gross turned in Igor’s cross from inside the six-yard box, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review adjudged Gross to be offside.
The visitors also had the ball in the net at the other end, though the offside flag denied John McGinn, who tucked away after the ball ricocheted kindly for him in the six-yard box.
However, it was Brighton who got the breakthrough in the 87th minute. Olsen guessed correctly to keep out Pedro’s penalty after Ezri Konsa tripped Adingra, but the Sweden international was helpless as the striker headed home the rebound to give Brighton victory.
Pedro hits the 20 mark
Brighton arrived in this contest off the back of successive defeats, and looking to avoid three on the spin for the first time since March 2022.
The Seagulls had also lost each of their previous five Premier League meetings with Villa, who could have secured their Champions League qualification with a win and a Spurs loss at Liverpool.
Gross almost broke the deadlock on his 200th Premier League start for Brighton – his strike ruled out following a VAR review – becoming only the second player to reach that figure after Lewis Dunk.
However, Pedro turned out to be the match winner as he became the first player to score 20 goals in all competitions in a single season for the Seagulls since Glenn Murray in 2016/17 (23).
Toothless Villa stumble
Villa – who were stunned by Olympiacos in the Europa Conference League on Thursday – were unable to capitalise on their opportunity to potentially secure their top-four place following an uncharacteristically quiet outing in front of goal.
Ollie Watkins had scored six goals in his last four appearances against Brighton – his highest tally against a single opponent – and had been directly involved in eight goals in his last five Premier League away games (scoring six and assisting two).
However, the England striker was unable to build on that momentum in a game where Villa registered just two shots on goal.
That was their lowest tally in a Premier League match since May 2016 against Newcastle United (also two), while they only registered fewer on record against Manchester United in August 2005 (one).
They should still have enough to secure a top-four place, but Emery’s team need to get over their hump.
IPL: Jadeja stars as CSK move into playoff places
Chennai Super Kings moved into the Indian Premier League playoff places after beating Punjab Kings by 28 runs in Dharamshala.
The reigning champions avenged their seven-wicket defeat by the Kings in Chennai four days earlier to climb to third place in the table with three games remaining.
After a slow start, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell's partnership brought 57 runs and settled CSK into their stride. Although MS Dhoni went for a duck, Ravindra Jadeja's late surge of 43 from 26 balls saw them close at 167-9.
Tushar Deshpande claimed Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw in the second over to stem the Kings' early momentum, while Jadeja (3-20) also took a quickfire double of Sam Curran and Ashutosh Sharma in the 13th over as the hosts finished well short of their target at 139-9.
Data debrief
In getting back to winning ways, CSK ended their five-game losing streak against the Kings, stretching back to 2021.
Despite going for a duck, Dhoni managed to make amends in the field. When he caught out Jitesh Sharma, he became the first player in IPL history to take 150 catches.
Jokic salutes 'special' Edwards after influential Game 1 display
Nikola Jokic paid tribute to "special player" Anthony Edwards following the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard's influential display against the Denver Nuggets.
Edwards notched up a career playoff high of 43 points as the Wolves drew first blood in the Western Conference semi-finals series with a 106-99 victory over the reigning champions in Game 1.
The two-time NBA All-Star shot 17-for-29 - including seven-for-10 on jump shots - seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal to become only the second player aged 22 or under in postseason history after Kobe Bryant to record successive 40-point performances.
Edwards has now scored 119 points across his last three playoff outings; the highest tally by a Wolves player across a three-game span in their postseason history.
The 22-year-old's exploits caught the eye of last season's NBA Finals MVP in Jokic, who shot just 11-for-25 (and two-for-nine from three-pointers) and conceded a game-high seven turnovers as the Nuggets surrendered home-court advantage at Ball Arena.
"To be honest, he's a special player," he said of Edwards. "I have huge respect for him; he can do everything on the floor. You need to give him respect for how good and how talented he is."
Minnesota have looked inspired during the playoffs, with a sweep of the Phoenix Suns helping them advance beyond the opening round for the first time since their only previous semi-final appearance in 2004.
And Edwards insists he and his team-mates are not daunted by the prospect of appearing in unfamiliar territory.
"Going against the best player in the world is always fun, going against the best team in the world is always fun," he said. "Our guys came out and competed, so it's not about me personally, it's about my team.
"It's not about introducing ourselves to anybody; we know who we are. We're coming out and as long as we've got each other's backs, it doesn't really matter what anybody else thinks."
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