Pep Guardiola has reserved a thank-you message for Liverpool after Manchester City pipped Jurgen Klopp's Reds to the Premier League title.
Klopp's side kept up their end of the bargain with a 2-0 win at home to Wolves on the final day of the campaign, but City - despite falling behind - cruised past Brighton 4-1 at the AMEX.
It sealed a 98-point haul for the champions as they secured back-to-back league titles, but Guardiola was quick to acknowledge the role Liverpool played in maintaining City's excellence.
A 14-game winning sequence was needed to lift the trophy by just a single point and Guardiola was full of praise for Klopp's runners-up at full time.
Guardiola said Liverpool's relentless pursuit kept the champions focused and ensured there was to be no mistakes from his players.
The City boss said: "We work a lot, we have to say congratulations to Liverpool as well and ‘thank you so much’.
"Because they help us to push and to increase our standard from the last season. Because to compete against this side, we should do what we have done, so incredible.
"It's been an incredible, incredible season for us. I think last season, Manchester City were a standard higher so that is the level of the Premier League.
"Liverpool have helped us to be there all the time and to win the title you need to win 14 games in a row."
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Despite their last-day disappointment, Liverpool will have a second crack at silverware when they meet Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid on June 1.
