Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City did not need to lose to understand how hard defending the title will be after a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham let Liverpool firmly back into the race.
The reverse at home means the champions remain on 63 points, six ahead of the Merseyside club, having played one more match than Jürgen Klopp’s team, who are City’s visitors on 9 April.
Guardiola said: “We didn’t need to lose a game to know how hard it is [to win the league]. There are many, many games still to play. I said a few weeks ago that we needed a lot of points and that it was going to be so difficult because the teams we are playing are fighting for the Champions League or the Europa League or not to be relegated.
“There are still a lot of games to go and a lot of points to play for and we know how difficult it is. We know what we need to do to be there [at the end]. Now we must recover. It will be good to understand how difficult it is [to win the title]. We are now going to train and prepare for the next games.
“Every goal they scored was different, but the third goal we defended badly at the back post and we lost the game.”
Tottenham’s most impressive player was Harry Kane, who created their opener and scored twice, claiming the three points with a 95th-minute winner. Guardiola was asked if the centre-forward’s display showed why he wished to buy the 28-year-old in the summer window. “He didn’t have to score those goals today to show his quality,” Guardiola said. “All of the UK knows how good he is.”
Spurs’ victory ended a run of three consecutive losses in the competition and lifts them to seventh place on 39 points, four behind Manchester United in fourth, with two matches in hand.
Their manager, Antonio Conte, said: “This win will give us more confidence. It wasn’t simple to play Manchester City after three losses in a row. But this is a process, we are working very hard to improve every aspect. This type of game gives us confidence.
“First of all I hate to lose. Our reaction was important. The Premier League is very difficult. Every game you have to fight a lot. We are continuing to improve everything and every level we work very hard on. Only one win is not good enough. Don’t forget we are coming off three losses. But a win against Manchester City is very good. We have a lot of space for improvement. This is one of the hardest working teams I have managed in my career.”
Kane said: “For me it was [about ending] three losses in a row and we had to find a way of getting our season back on track. To get the result we did was really, really special. The boys worked their socks off today. To get the goals was obviously nice.”
