Manchester City confirmed as Premier League champions

Manchester City have sealed a fifth Premier League title after closest rivals Manchester United side fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Leicester City on Tuesday night.

Pep Guardiola's side have been closing in on the crown for a number of weeks, having put together an incredible run of form since the turn of the year.

They now cannot be caught at the top of the table by United. Following the loss at Old Trafford, the maximum amount of points the Red Devils can pick up is now 79; City already have 80, thus making their lead at the top of the Premier League unassailable.

United rested a number of key players for the Foxes' visit, with the forced postponement of their clash with Liverpool on 2 May leading to a fixture pile-up this week, with the ousted champions travelling to face their fierce rivals on Thursday instead.

City could have wrapped up the league themselves on Saturday and were well on course to do so when Raheem Sterling opened the scoring against Chelsea, but Sergio Aguero fluffed a penalty before Hakim Ziyech and Marcos Alonso netted to hand their upcoming Champions League final opponents the win.

The Cityzens' triumph is another notch on Guardiola's trophy belt. He is celebrating a third Premier League success as the club's manager, the achievement also capping a supreme upturn in form which started after City entered the new year outside of the top six.

13 wins in a row lifted them head and shoulders above everybody else and, with Liverpool fading into obscurity, it soon became a matter of when, not if, City would reclaim the title they lost after a tremendous 2019/20 campaign from Jurgen Klopp's Reds.

There have been many heroes over the course of this title-winning charge, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez all standing out at various points in the campaign. Phil Foden has also enjoyed his best season for the club, while the versatile Joao Cancelo has played a pivotal role with his marauding displays from full back.

Unsurprisingly, City top the Premier League scoring charts, but their success has also stemmed from a vast improvement in defence. The partnership of John Stones and Ruben Dias, one of the signings of the season, has blossomed in particular, finally settling down a back line that Guardiola has been unable to consistently rely on despite the club's previous successes.

City's attention will now turn to getting over the line in the Champions League, having comfortably dispatched of Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-finals. They will again front up against Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea, pitting their wits against them in the final after they saw off the threat of Real Madrid.

The final was originally meant to be staged in Istanbul, but now may be held in England because Turkey has been added to the United Kingdom's 'red list' - owing to rising cases of coronavirus in the country.