Manchester City has been backed by David Villa to retain the Premier League title.
The former Barcelona man says Pep Guardiola’s side is capable of becoming the first club to win back-to-back Premier League title since 2009. Since Manchester United retaining the title under Sir Alex Ferguson, where he pipped Liverpool to the top spot, to make it three wins in a row, no side has retained the title.
United were contenders last season but they could not stop City romping to the title, Guardiola’s men finishing the campaign with record tallies in terms of points (100) and goals scored (106).
Across the 38 games City only lost twice – to Liverpool and United – and also picked up the EFL Cup, while reaching the Champions League quarter-finals. Guardiola has strengthened his squad for 2018-19 with the addition of Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City, and Villa believes the defending champions are favourites to retain their crown.
“I believe that he can do it again because he is a good coach, he has a good team, and he has the support of Manchester City and the City group. They are one of the best teams in the world and I don’t have any doubt that he can take any trophy again this year and why not the best trophy that the club is fighting for from a long time ago, the Champions League,” said Villa, who worked with Guardiola at Barcelona.
City opens the defence of their title against Arsenal on August 12, before their first home match against Huddersfield Town seven days later.
Manchester City first played in the top-tier of the Football League in 1899 and won their first major honour with the FA Cup in 1904. The club’s most successful period was from 1968 to 1970, when it won the League Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup, under the management team of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison.
After losing the 1981 FA Cup Final, the club went through a period of decline, culminating in relegation to the third tier of English football for the only time in its history in 1998. Having regained their Premier League status in the early 2000s, Manchester City was purchased in 2008 by Abu Dhabi United Group for £210 million, receiving considerable investment.
The club won the Premier League in 2012, 2014 and, most recently in 2018, also becoming the first Premier League team to attain 100 points in a single season.
Manchester City has the fifth-highest revenue in football, at €527.7 million in 2016–17.Forbes magazine ranks it as the world’s fifth-most valuable football club, worth US$2.47 billion. In 2015, a 13.79% stake purchase of the club’s parent company, City Football Group (CFG), by the CITIC Group for £265 million valued it at $3 billion.
Manchester City’s home colours are sky blue and white. Traditional away kit colours have been either maroon or (from the 1960s) red and black; however, in recent years several different colours have been used. The origins of the club’s home colours are unclear, but there is evidence that the club has worn blue since 1892 or earlier. A booklet entitled Famous Football Clubs – Manchester City published in the 1940s indicates that West Gorton (St. Marks) originally played in scarlet and black, and reports dating from 1884 describe the team wearing black jerseys bearing a white cross, showing the club’s origins as a church side. The red and black away colours used infrequently yet recurrently come from former assistant manager Malcolm Allison, who believed that adopting the colours of A.C. Milanwould inspire City to glory. Allison’s theory worked, with City winning the 1969 FA Cup Final, 1970 League Cup Final and the 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final in red and black stripes as opposed to the club’s home kit of sky blue.