Arsenal’s Premier League title win came after years of battling against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City machine.
Mikel Arteta’s side finally got over the line after City dropped points against Bournemouth, officially confirming Arsenal as champions of England once again.
For Arsenal supporters, it was a moment of pure jubilation after waiting 22 years for another league title.
For Guardiola, however, it marked the end of an era. The Spaniard has announced that he will leave Manchester City at the end of the season.
Despite the disappointment, the City boss immediately showed enormous class towards his former assistant.
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Pep Guardiola contacted Mikel Arteta immediately after Arsenal became champions
Arteta and Pep Guardiola share a very close relationship from their years working together at Manchester City.
The Arsenal manager has often spoken about how much he learned under Pep and how important that experience was in shaping his own coaching career.
Now, after years of intense title battles between the two managers, Guardiola still made sure to congratulate Arteta straight away after Arsenal sealed the Premier League crown.
When asked if Pep had contacted him following City’s draw against Bournemouth, Arteta revealed on TNT Sports: “Yes, immediately after the game, he texted me already.”
The Arsenal boss then went on to praise both Guardiola and Manchester City for helping raise Arsenal’s standards over the last few years.
Arteta said: “So, first of all, it’s gratitude towards him, towards Manchester City and all the opponents because we have shown the level that we have shown because everybody is raising the level and the standards.
“If you don’t do that, we wouldn’t be here sitting where we are today. So, you need to thank that and realise that some days have been painful and now we got the reward.”
Honestly, that is a classy response from both managers.
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What a difference a month makes!
Mikel Arteta has achieved something no other manager has done to Pep Guardiola
Arteta’s achievement this season deserves far more praise than it is getting.
Getting the better of Guardiola over the course of a season once is difficult enough; doing it twice is almost impossible.
Yet Arsenal boss Arteta has now become the first manager in Guardiola’s 17-year managerial career to finish above him on two separate occasions.
The first was in the 2024/25 season when Arsenal finished second and City third, and the second is in this campaign when the Gunners pipped the Sky Blues to the Premier League crown.
That statistic becomes even more outrageous when you consider the level of Manchester City’s spending on transfers and wages during this period.
For Arsenal to overcome that and become champions again under Arteta is genuinely one of the greatest achievements of the Premier League era.
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