Man City's Pep Guardiola named PL Manager of the Season, Ruben Dias becomes PoTY

If it wasn't just for the third Premier League title win in four seasons, Manchester City have more cause to celebrate. While Ruben Dias, Manchester City's defender has been named as the Premier League Player of the Season, the club's manager Pep Guardiola has been named as the 2020/21 Manager of the Season. 

It is pertinent to note here that Guardiola has claimed the award for the third time in his managerial career, winning it previously in 2017-18 and 2018-19. Guardiola now equals Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho's record of three Manager of the Season awards, with only legendary former Manchester United's Alex Ferguson who has won the laurel 11 times in the past. On the other hand, Dias became only the second Portuguese player, after Christiano Ronaldo (Manchester United in 2006/07 and 2007/08) to win the Player of the Season award after his debut for title winners in the 2020/21 Premier League season. 

Other nominees for the award along with the 50-year-old Pep Guardiola were Leeds United's Marcelo Bielsa, West Ham United's David Moyes, Leicester City's Brendan Rodgers, and Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ruben Dias beat seven other nominees - Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, Aston Villa's Jack Grealish, Manchester City's De Bruyne, Chelsea's Mason Mount, Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane, West Ham United's Tomas Soucek, and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah. The winners for the best Manager and Player of the season is decided by combining votes from both a panel of football experts and the public.

"The Manchester City centre-back follows in the footsteps of teammate Kevin De Bruyne, who claimed the award in 2019/20," said the office Premier League release. 

The club took to their official Twitter handle to congratulate both. 

Manchester City were crowned Premier League winners on 11th May following arch-rivals Manchester United's 1-2 home defeat at the hands of Leicester City. Manchester City moved a step closer to Premier League supremacy, and their title win made them the joint-second most successful club in the Premier League era. Pep Guardiola's side lifted their third Premier League title in four seasons to match up to Chelsea's Premier League winners tally, with the Blues having won the championship five times since the turn of this century.

The former Bayern Munich boss has three title wins in England, tied for the second-most with arch-rival Jose Mourinho and former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. Sir Alex Ferguson leads the lot with 13 Premier League titles, during his Manchester United dynasty which lasted until his retirement in 2013. But the Man City Premier League titles could arguably be this century's highlight in the competition.

(with inputs from ANI)