Pep Guardiola believes it will not be possible for his Man City side to replicate their treble-winning achievements of last season.
City became just the second team to ever win the treble of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup last season, after rivals Manchester United in 1999.
But Guardiola, who takes his Man City side to face newly promoted Burnley on Friday, says the achievement was a “once in a lifetime” occurence.
“I don’t think it will be possible to do what we have done last season,” Guardiola said.
“It’s once in a lifetime, so I said to the players forget about it.
“We climbed the highest mountain last season with what we have done but the last two days we came down the mountain and start from there, with everyone with the same intention and there will be a lot of difficulties to climb as high as possible.
“Our football, our behaviours, our mentality will dictate how the season will be. In football, what we have done remains in our hearts and in our minds, but it’s over.
“Every season you start from zero, but the history speaks for itself. When you achieve something like we have done, it’s almost impossible to repeat. We have to be aware of that and hopefully us and our fans can understand how difficult it was.”
Defender Nathan Ake and new signing Josko Gvardiol will both be available for the visit to Burnley, Guardiola confirmed.
The City boss also reiterated his desire for Kyle Walker to stay at the club this summer, adding: “We are wishing he stays, since a long time we made him feel (that). But no, no news.”
