Having secured six Premier League titles during his decade-long tenure in Manchester, Guardiola’s side carries a psychological weight that few other teams can match. While he acknowledges that rivals might be intimidated by City's track record, he insists that history alone won't win them games this season.
"The aura doesn’t make you feel wins. For most of the players, not now but in recent past, it’s just, ‘OK, we have done it many times, we can do it again’," Guardiola explained. "But that doesn’t define a season in the Premier League. The season in the Premier League is 11 months and in the 11 months, there were a lot of games that we were good, but not good enough to win. Because now we are not seventh or eighth in the Premier League, we are second and fighting. It’s not a bad season."