City have been described as the best team in the world by a rival manager, this season’s title race is the most intense in recent history according to one columnist and is our next long-term captain already in place?
Let’s start with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp who says City are the best team in world football right now and believes an unprecedented Quadruple remains a possibility.
“If you were watching from outside, you’d think it looks like City can win all four and I think the same,” Klopp told the Liverpool Echo.
“City in the moment look like the best team in the world. That’s how it is. Barcelona the other night struggled a little bit but still did the job. Juve look pretty impressive in Italy but you don’t exactly know how it will be in the Champions League.
“With City, those are the three big Champions League favourites. And you think, okay, City looks a bit more stable than all of them.”
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Meanwhile, the Independent‘s Miguel Delaney says this season’s title race carries more significance than any previous battle for the Premier League trophy.
“It is a sense of history that has actually been overlooked because of how involving the current race is,” he writes. “Really, the fact both Manchester City and Liverpool are together recording such historically high points totals and are still so enticingly close in the table appropriately reflects the extremities of what is on the line.
“On one side, there is the quadruple – a feat that has never been achieved by an English team before.
“On the other side, there would be Liverpool ending a long wait to win a title, to do something – and feel something – that hasn’t been done for 29 years. No major European club with as many league trophies has ever gone so long without victory.
“One feat is so emotionally unparalleled because it would be unprecedented for any club. One feat is so emotionally unparalleled because of the club’s precedents. It is winning everything against winning the single thing you want more than anything. It is the uniqueness of perfection against the perfect feeling of that unique trophy; the weight of all the silverware against the wait for that one piece of silverware.
“There have never been two title challengers whose potential conquests have so much consequence and meaning, and in such different ways.”
And, finally, the Manchester Evening News’ Joe Bray says Raheem Sterling has what it requires to become a Manchester City captain.
“Sterling leads by example on and off the pitch. He knows the responsibility of being a Premier League footballer for Manchester City, and uses that platform to raise awareness of important social issues,” he writes.
“The England international’s stance on media coverage of young black players has been commendable, and there has already been signs of change as a result of his comments.
“Sterling has also been a leading voice in the fight against racism in football, and has rightly been praised for his defiant response to abuse directed towards him in games against Chelsea and Montenegro this season.”
That’s all for this morning’s Media Watch. But stay with us throughout today as we continue to bring you buildup to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final.
