Pep Guardiola makes surprising Man City trophy claim after Rodri returns from injury

View 2 Images

Pep Guardiola believes that last season, which saw Manchester City finish without a trophy, was one of his best given how they copped without their talisman Rodri, who was sidelined with injury.

The Etihad outfit went into the campaign looking to win a fifth straight Premier League title, but an early injury to arguably their best player meant they were handicapped. Ultimately a mid-season slump, which saw them win once in nine games, cost them any hope of the title.

They also missed out in numerous other competitions, losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace at Wembley. It meant that 2025 marked only the second time in Guardiola’s career that he completed a calendar year without silverware.

Despite that,he showed his pragmatism and City ended the calendar year with the best record of any Premier League team in terms of wins, goal difference and points per game. Rodri has missed the majority of the last 18 months following knee surgery but his imminent return has given the Catalan cause for optimism given their success without him.

He said: “When you miss the best player in the world , two seasons ago, he was an incredible figure to make a Treble and four Premier Leagues in a row. You miss him, of course. For one week, three weeks, you can handle it. More than one year and a half, it’s a lot of time.

“At the end of last season, what we have done, overcome the problems that we had, it was one of the best seasons we have had as a team. The guys who were there, the staff and background staff last season was arguably one of the best that we had. Because it’s how you overcome the problems.

“We have health, a quite decent sense of humour, so 2025 was nice. We cannot judge the season on whether you win the title or not, there are more important things in life than that and we try to do our best. In this perspective, now every time when I reflect on what happened last season, I’m more proud than ever about what we have done as a club, how we handled the bad, bad situations."

View 2 Images

City have put last season's struggles behind them and got themselves back among the title protagonists. They can close to within two points of Arsenal if they win their game in hand against Sunderland on New Year's Day, with Guardiola look set to battle his previous assistant Mikel Arteta , once again, for the Premier League crown.

In recent years the Manchester outfit have got the better of the Gunners when they've been going at it. Arsenal are looking to get over the final hurdle whilst Guardiola could secure a seventh title in a decade in England if he did finish top of the pile.

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £192 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.