Pep Guardiola: Man City, the American footballer or Usain Bolt

Pep Guardiola compared Manchester City matches with big names in US sports Usain Bolt and Tiger Woods on Friday.

City remains in pole position to retain its Premier League title after a season in which it was pushed to an extraordinary level by Liverpool.

"You know, when Usain Bolt beats the 100-meter record, it's the norm and the others have to reach it," he said. "Like golf, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, it's the same. The standards we established last season, you must now be close to 100 points. Before that was 90. & # 39;

Pep Guardiola thanked Liverpool for pushing Manchester City to maintain its points

The city has 100 points less season and is about to get closer to this huge record

The city will only have two points ahead of last year if it wins the remaining three matches, at Burnley on Sunday. Klopp and Guardiola both said that the one who finishes second will not have failed, given the sheer volume of points they've both ambaded.

"We helped Liverpool get there and Liverpool kept us going, so thanks to Liverpool, we're competing," added Guardiola. "Liverpool knows that to win, you have to score a lot of points.

"We push ourselves, knowing that the others are at the same level. Find out what we can do to win the match, work harder, respect opponents, try to improve what we have done this season. That's the only way I know. The amount of titles will not change my opinion of what we have done this season. & # 39;

Guardiola compared his team to Tiger Woods by referring to always wanting to stay at the highest level

Guardiola praised the mentality of his players, some of whom were discouraged after the defeat of the Champions League by Tottenham. The fact that they then beat the Spurs three days later showed an immense character, according to their manager. He saw their desperation to fight back in emotional conversations about WhatsApp.

The boss of the City will again be deprived of Kevin De Bruyne Sunday, while Fernandinho and Ilkay Gundogan will compete to prove their form after being injured in the victory at Manchester United on Wednesday.

"Without all the players, we could not do it," Guardiola said. "The reaction in bad times is the most important detail. We do not have a guy who scored 60 goals, everyone was involved. We can not score many points because we are a small team. & # 39;

The 157 goals scored by the city, in all competitions, constitute a leading record, 156 eclipsed by 156 in the net against Manuel Pellegrini five years ago.

"I'm very happy that the top two are Man City," Guardiola said. "It means we are focused on an attractive game."