LONDON (Reuters) -Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said finishing third in the Premier League in this turbulent season was as good as winning the title, following a 2-0 victory at Fulham on Sunday that ensured Champions League football in the new campaign.
Goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Erling Haaland sealed the win for City, and Guardiola praised his players for their fighting spirit to keep going in a campaign where injuries and ill-fortune dogged the team almost from the start.
"It's like a title, (due to) the obstacles," Guardiola told the BBC. "When you continue (to struggle), you finish 10th, 11th, 12th or 13th.
"This is the destiny of all the teams in the Premier League when they are in November, December or January and you cannot fight for the Premier League like you have done for many years.
"People can say, 'I don't want to fight again, just to qualify for the Europa League'. We continued playing good and we were there (third in the table to qualify) and we did it.
"At the end we finished third, not miles away from Arsenal, but the distance to Liverpool is huge. We have to improve and hopefully we can do it."
Guardiola suggested there would be new faces in his squad next season, but "not too many" as he looks to trim the number of players in the first team.
Jack Grealish was a noticeable absentee from the match-day squad against Fulham amid questions over his future.
But asked if he was happy for the player to stay, Guardiola insisted that Grealish's absence was simply the consequence of having a big squad.
"Who said I am not happy with him? It is not personal, I don't have any problem with any of the players. I am the person who fought for him to come here, and to stay in the last season," Guardiola said.
"In the last game we had six players who stayed at home, this time it was five. But it is that simple, it is nothing else. What happens in the future (is up to the club), not me."
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
