Manchester City have been crowned Premier League champions for the fifth time in ten seasons after their closest challengers Manchester United lost 2-1 at home to Leicester City.
The title is the third for Spanish manager Pep Guardiola who had a rough start to the season.
City found their groove in mid-December to streak clear of the chasing pack and wrap up the title with three games to spare.
After the likes of Vincent Kompany, David Silva and Yaya Toure left, many pundits said that Pep was done. A quick shuffle to the team saw Pep introduce the likes of Phil Foden, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo in the mix. The three have played a very integral part in City’s success this season including a first ever Champions League final.
Sergio Aguero has been sparingly used this term and the goals have been distributed. Key components to the team Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Bernardo Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Ederson have also played their part well
Portuguese star Dias has been the most important addition as the Portugal centre-back proved the perfect replacement for Kompany.
Signed from Benfica in September, the 23-year-old adapted seamlessly to City and the physicality of the Premier League. In that effect, the likes of John Stones improved and Nathan Ake, signed from Bournemouth were used sparingly.
20-year-old Foden has long been earmarked as a future star of England; he is living the bill.The youngster has on several occasions lifted City’s spirits even when they are being subdued.
The current City side comprises of players mostly below 30 years of age with only Ilkay Gundogan and Kyle Walker walking into the wrong age of football, Fernandinho who is the granddad of the lot and Kun Aguero are in their thirties anyway, but both are leaving at the end of the season, living a squad that can dominate the Premier League and Europe for a long time.
Fernandinho, 35, has been City's captain this season and Guardiola urged him to tell his teammates their efforts were not acceptable.
"After that session, Pep came and spoke to me as captain, as the leader of the team. He was blunt. He told me that not everyone was at 100 percent. And, in this team, when you come to train, you do it at 100 percent, or you stay home. There is no negotiation," Fernandinho told the Players' Tribune.
"I arrived at the ground the next morning ahead of training, and I said, 'Tell Pep we'll start training a little later today.' It was an emergency.
"Once we got everyone together, I spoke openly. I spoke as captain. I told them what Pep had told me, that some things are inexcusable. We needed to be shaken."
It was a defining moment as City put Chelsea to the sword in their next match and haven't looked back.
"Our next game was away at Chelsea. Before the match, I thought to myself, 'If these guys don't run here, that's it, I'm done!' I was ready to lose all morale," Fernandinho said.
"But, of course, we won. Thank God, since then we've been on an amazing, record-breaking run."
Ominously for City's title rivals, Fernandinho believes the desire for more success burns as bright as ever in the new generation.
"The most important thing is when you win titles and trophies, you get that hunger to win even more. That's what we have here," he said.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6BisOqE1i8
Victory at Anfield was one of the few Premier League feats that had not been achieved by City since their Arab money started trickling in 2008.
Liverpool's title defence was already crumbling – after a 68-game unbeaten at home in the league stretching back nearly four years, Brighton and Burnley both won at Anfield prior to City's visit.
City did not just end an 18-year wait for a league victory at Liverpool but did so emphatically with a 4-1 win thanks to a combination of sumptuous attacking play and two huge errors from Reds' goalkeeper Alisson Becker. It is a result that might have crowned the new Premier League champions.