Pep Guardiola dismissed the discussion of Liverpool recovering a 14-point deficit to Manchester City, claiming the January gap "was fake" due to the Reds' games in hand.
There is just a point between leaders City and second-placed Liverpool heading into their encounter on Sunday, which many are billing as a title decider.
But back in mid-January, Liverpool was in third, 14 points behind City – who had a 13-point advantage over Chelsea.
Should Liverpool go on to win the Premier League title, this season would mark the greatest comeback in terms of points, breaking the 1997-98 record held by Arsenal.
The Gunners, in their first Premier League title-winning campaign, were 13 points behind pace-setters Manchester United in sixth in late December. They also had a game in hand.
Although topped by Arsenal, perhaps the most notable collapse in the competition's history saw Newcastle United 12 points clear of United in January of the 1995-96 season. Kevin Keegan's side, who finished second, had played the same number of games as their title rivals.
"I'm going to tell you something: 14 points, it was fake. You were wrong," Guardiola said ahead of the game at the Etihad Stadium. "[Liverpool] had two more games in hand. It's fake."
The City manager, therefore, refused to criticise his team for allowing that significant gap to be closed.
"I have to analyse the games where we dropped points — Crystal Palace, especially, and Southampton," he said.
"We were brilliant, I would say more than brilliant. We were not effective, we were not clinical, but we were brilliant.
"We won against Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals 4-1. It was miles away worse, worse than the game where we drew 1-1 when we could've won 4-1. But it's football, it's unpredictable.
"It was the same with Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace is in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and we were amazing the way we played. It's football."
And Guardiola is not surprised by Liverpool's recovery, declaring them "one of the best teams in decades".
"When we were 14 points ahead of Liverpool, even myself I could not believe it because I know the incredible opponent we have to face," he added.
"It's Liverpool, one of the best teams in decades in this country, in Europe.
"The reality is one point right now, this is the normal reality. It's an honour to be there, to fight to beat them to win the Premier League."
Naparima, Fatima and San Juan North maintain 100 per cent win records in SSFL
Naparima, Fatima and San Juan North maintained their unblemished records following the fourth round of matches in Trinidad and Tobago’s Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) on Saturday.
Naparima College produced the most impressive victory of the unbeaten schools with a 7-0 thrashing of East Mucurapo Secondary. The result means they sit atop the 15-team league table with 12 points but enjoy a far-superior goal difference over Fatima College, who blanked Pleasantville Secondary 5-0.
San Juan North Secondary had a tougher time of it as they edged Queens Royal College 2-1 and lie third in the standings.
Meanwhile, Presentation College picked up their second win of the season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Chaquanas North Secondary. The three points earned from the win sees them fourth in the standings with seven points, one more than fifth-place Malick Secondary, who lost 1-2 to Speyside High School, who also have six points but are seventh on goal difference.
Also on six points but are sixth in the standings are Arima North Secondary who battled St Benedict’s College to a 1-1 stalemate.
St Anthony’s College defeated St Mary’s College 3-0 for their second win of the season in the other fixture played on Saturday.
Alvaro Morata brace inspires Atletico Madrid to victory over rivals Real Madrid
Alvaro Morata struck with two headers as Atletico Madrid clinched a rare LaLiga win over arch-rivals Real Madrid, winning 3-1 at the Metropolitano Stadium.
Morata and Antoine Griezmann gave Atletico a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes and after Toni Kroos reduced the deficit before the break, Spain captain Morata headed his second against his former club a minute after the restart.
Atletico, who had won only one of their previous 14 league meetings against their rivals, halted Real’s five-game winning start to the league season.
Villarreal’s former Liverpool defender Alberto Moreno was sent off as his side drew 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano.
Kike Perez equalised for Vallecano a minute after Alexander Sorloth had fired Villarreal into a first-half lead and Moreno was shown his second yellow card in the 77th minute.
Real Sociedad sealed their second league win of the season in a seven-goal thriller at home against Getafe.
The visitors led 2-1 at half-time through Carles Alena’s header and Borja Mayoral’s penalty after Takefusa Kubo had given Sociedad an early lead.
Mikel Oyarzabal’s second-half double – his first coming from the penalty spot – sandwiched Brais Mendez’s effort to put the home side 4-2 up before Juan Latasa headed a late third for Getafe.
Guido Rodriguez’s second-half equaliser earned Real Betis a 1-1 home draw against Cadiz, who had led at half-time through Chris Ramos.
Las Palmas overcame the second-half dismissal of Mika Marmol to secure their first win of the season, 1-0 at home against second-bottom Granada, thanks to Kirian Rodriguez’s stoppage-time goal.
Italy midfielder Federico Dimarco’s first goal of the season clinched Inter Milan a 1-0 win at bottom club Empoli and kept them top of Serie A.
Dimarco struck early in the second half as Inter extended their 100 per cent league record this season to five matches.
Reigning champions Napoli were held 0-0 at Bologna and are now seven points behind Inter.
Fiorentina kept pace with the top four as goals from Lucas Martinez Quarta and Giacomo Bonaventura secured them a 2-0 victory at winless Udinese.
Atalanta, a point behind Fiorentina, won 2-0 at home against second-bottom Cagliari, with former Everton winger Ademola Lookman and Mario Pasalic both on target.
Duvan Zapata’s late header rescued a 1-1 draw for Torino at Roma, who had led through Romelu Lukaku’s second-half goal.
In the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen are level on points with leaders Bayern Munich after beating newly-promoted Heidenheim 4-1 at BayArena.
Victor Boniface’s early opener for Leverkusen was cancelled out by Eren Dinkci in the second half, but Jonas Hofmann put the home side back in front and after Boniface had converted a penalty, Amine Adli completed the scoring.
Eintracht Frankfurt and Freiburg sit eighth and ninth respectively after drawing 0-0 at Deutsche Bank Park.
Paris St Germain climbed to within two points of surprise early Ligue 1 leaders Brest by thrashing Marseille 4-0 at Parc des Princes.
Goncalo Ramos notched a second-half double after first-half efforts from Achraf Hakimi and Randal Kolo Muani.
Strasbourg and Le Havre are among the early pace-setters after winning 1-0 at Metz and 2-1 at home against rock-bottom Clermont respectively.
Teenager Habib Diarra fired Strasbourg’s winner as they notched their third league win of the season, while Nabil Alioui and Mohamed Bayo put Le Havre 2-0 up inside seven minutes before Cheick Konate replied for Clermont.
Lens registered their first win of the season in all competitions, 2-1 at home against Toulouse, thanks to Morgan Guilavogui’s late strike, while Rennes were held 0-0 at Montpellier.
Alvaro Morata brace helps Atletico end Real Madrid’s winning start to season
Alvaro Morata headed a double as Atletico Madrid beat arch rivals Real Madrid 3-1 at the Metropolitano Stadium.
The Spain captain and Antoine Griezmann headed Atletico into a 2-0 first-half lead and although Toni Kroos pulled one back for Real before the interval, Morata struck again at the start of the second period.
Atletico fully deserved a rare LaLiga win in the Madrid derby – they had won only one of their previous 14 league meetings – and halted their rivals’ six-game winning start to the season.
Atletico made a dream start as they stormed into a 2-0 lead inside the opening 20 minutes.
Former Real striker Morata headed them in front in the fourth minute, stealing in behind the away side’s defence to glance home Brazilian winger Samuel Lino’s excellent cross.
After a spell of patient Real possession, Atletico exposed their rivals again out wide to double their advantage.
This time it was Saul Niguez who delivered an inch-perfect cross into the box, from the same left side, which Griezmann headed beyond on-loan Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Atletico almost added a third in the 31st minute when Kepa reacted smartly to keep out Saul’s effort.
An out-of-sorts Real hauled themselves back into it 10 minutes before the break through a piece of individual brilliance from Kroos, who turned neatly inside Marcos Llorente and arrowed a low shot into the bottom corner.
The visitors thought they had equalised just before the break, but the offside Antonio Rudiger was judged to have been interfering with play before Eduardo Camavinga turned the ball home.
Real boss Carlo Ancelotti sent on Joselu in place of Luka Modric for the second half, but his side were stunned inside a minute of the restart when Morata headed Atletico into a 3-1 lead.
Another Saul cross from the left picked out the ex-Chelsea striker and he provided another expertly-taken finish.
Atletico’s Mario Hermoso then headed against the crossbar before a triple substitution by Ancelotti saw Ferland Mendy, Nacho and Aurelien Tchouameni replace Fran Garcia, Lucas Vazquez and Camavinga.
Real began to force the issue as they searched for a way back into the match, with Rodrygo and Tchouameni both having efforts blocked and the latter fizzing a shot wide.
Rudiger and Federico Valverde both also fired shots just wide, but it was a night to forget for Ancelotti’ side, with a frustrated Jude Bellingham booked for a crude challenge in stoppage time.
Diego Simeone’s side climbed up to fifth, five points behind third-placed Madrid with a game in hand.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
