Pep Guardiola had one message from the start of the season: nobody can predict what will happen after the World Cup.
With a six-week break for the World Cup for the first time, City's entire calendar for two years has been shifted around, after a two-year disruption for the 2020 break in the season due to the pandemic. Guardiola has managed to navigate those challenges relatively successfully (as back-to-back Premier League titles attest), although even he admitted he couldn't predict what would happen in 2023.
As well as possessing doubts about his team's readiness to compete for a third successive title, Guardiola will have had to rely on all of his knowledge to get City to a position where they are still fighting for titles by the March international break.
