The Blues, who won the Carabao Cup in February, are holding out for a third trophy this season as they face Watford in the FA Cup final on 18 May.<doc-sep>Manchester City's incredible domestic season has already seen them secure the EFL Cup in February and then the Premier League title on Sunday, and yet, there's still space in the trophy room for more. Man City is just days away from taking on Watford in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, with the domestic treble within reach. If history is any indicator of what's to come, City should be on the verge of earning its third trophy of the season. Pep Guardiola's team, which brilliantly overcame the injuries to Kevin de Bruyne with the emergence of Bernardo Silva, ended the league campaign with 14 straight wins. That just doesn't happen in a major European league. Consider the fact that in-city rival Manchester United finished the league season with 19 wins, and you can clearly see just how remarkable that is. In domestic competitions, City went undefeated from February on. Many forget that City was on the verge of potentially going 10 points back of Liverpool when they hosted the Reds on Jan. 3. It's that 2-1 win with Leroy Sane's second-half winner that saw something click, and the rest is history. Two trophies in the bag, and with one more remaining, the 2018-19 campaign has a chance to be the very best in the club's history with its first domestic treble. As a result, City rises in this week's rankings. How the rankings work We list the top 25 teams in the world based on recent form. The teams playing the best soccer -- in their respective leagues and in international competitions -- will be considered. Quality of the opponents will also be taken into an account, but above all, the most important factors are recent results and overall standings in competitions. World Club Soccer Power Rankings Previous rankings: May 6 | April 29 | April 22 | April 15 | April 8 | April 1 | March 11 | March 4 | Feb. 25 | Feb. 18 | Feb. 11 | Feb. 4 | Jan. 28 | Jan. 21 | Jan. 14 | Jan. 7 | Jan. 1 | Dec. 24 | Dec. 18 | Dec 10 | Dec 3 | Nov. 26 | Nov. 12 | Nov. 5 | Oct. 30 | Oct. 23 | Oct. 10 | Oct. 3 | Sept. 26 | Sept. 17 | Sept. 4 | Aug. 28 | Aug. 23 | Aug. 15 | Preseason rankings RK TEAM CHG ANALYSIS 1. Liverpool (ENG) +2 No shame in finishing second in the Premier League. If they win the Champions League final, nobody would have asked for a better season. 2. Manchester City (ENG) +1 Well-deserved Premier League title. Fourteen straight wins to end the league season is absolutely bonkers. They are one win (FA Cup final on Saturday) away from winning a rare domestic treble. 3. Barcelona (ESP) -2 Quite the collapse by Barcelona. Lionel Messi is getting a lot of heat, but did you see those three sitters he set up that nobody finished vs. Liverpool? 4. Tottenham (ENG) +4 On cloud nine until June 1 after that comeback against Ajax. What Mauricio Pochettino has done is similar to that of what Diego Simeone has done at Atletico Madrid. 5. Bayern Munich (GER) -- The Bundesliga title is within reach. Doing enough down the stretch but it will all come down to this weekend. 6. Juventus (ITA) -- Just one trophy this season feels like too little for this team. The future is bright, but it's Champions League or bust next season. 7. Atletico Madrid (ESP) --- Going to finish ahead of rival Real Madrid, so no complaints from them. Strong, consistent but just not sharp enough to win a trophy this season. 8. Ajax (ENG) -4 You have to feel for this young Ajax team. They'll look much different next season. This club has returned to its titanic status on the continental stage. 9. Chelsea (ENG) -- Into the Europa League final and finished third in the Premier League. Remember how Maurizio Sarri was supposed to be fired? 10. Arsenal (ENG) -- They'll be disappointed in not finishing in the top four, but that won't matter if the Gunners win Europa League. Pressure is on to beat Chelsea. 11. PSG (FRA) -- PSG has scored 100 goals in 36 league matches. There's no sign of anybody stopping this team in France. In Europe, it's another thing all together. 12. Lille (FRA) +1 The biggest surprise in a major European league? Second place in Ligue 1 with 72 points ... after finishing last season in 17th place with 38 points. Deserving of a Champions League spot 13. Benfica (POR) +1 Two-point lead with a game to go, Benfica can wrap up the league title next Sunday. A slip up, and rival Porto will have a chance. 14. Porto (POR) -- Going to need a victory and for Benfica to slip up. Not looking likely, but they can still win the Taca de Portugal on May 25. 15. Manchester United (ENG) -3 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done what he can, but he got the job with United in sixth place, and that's exactly where the Red Devils finished. Big summer ahead. 16. Napoli (ITA) -- Four wins out of five and second place in Serie A wrapped up. Now can they build the roster to truly contend with Juventus again? 17. RB Leipzig (GER) -- Champions League spot wrapped up and a chance to win the German Cup against Bayern Munich. Not bad for a club established in 2009. 18. Atalanta (ITA) +2 Third place in Serie A and in the Coppa Italia final. Who saw any of that coming? Duvan Zapata has 27 goals in 44 matches. 19. Borussia Dortmund (GER) +6 Valiantly fighting for the Bundesliga crown. Unlikely to take it home on the final matchday, but credit is due for not giving up. 20. Real Madrid (ESP) -2 Los Blancos have lost 11 games this season, more than anyone in the top five in La Liga. Time to weed out the players that don't belong. Zinedine Zidane has some work to do. 21.<doc-sep>(CNN) In a week in which football redefined the word "incredible," the Premier League title race entered the final chapter of an extraordinary season. Manchester City became the first side since 2009 to retain a Premier League title after victory against Brighton, condemning Liverpool to second place on a staggering 97 points, despite a final day victory against Wolves In the end, it took City 14 consecutive wins to lift the title -- any fewer would have seen Liverpool crowned champion for the first time since 1990. "Incredible" was the word Pep Guardiola used to describe his team's achievement this season in collecting 98 points after winning the 2017/2018 title with 100 points. "We made the standard higher than last season and Liverpool helped us.," said Guardiola, who has now won league titles in eight of his 10 seasons as a manager with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and City. "To win this title we had to win 14 in a row. We couldn't lose one point. "It's the toughest title we have won in all my career, by far." So how exactly did the season arrive at this point, with two sides so consistently excellent throughout the year? These are the key moments that shaped an enthralling title race. Guardiola and Kompany with the Premier League trophy at City's Etihad Stadium October 7: Liverpool 0-0 Manchester City Manchester City wasted a glorious opportunity to claim a first win in 15 years at Anfield after Riyad Mahrez missed an 85th-minute penalty. Mahrez fired high and wide of the goal after teammate Leroy Sane was fouled by Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk. His miss left both teams unbeaten after eight games, with City top of the pile ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool on goal difference. City's Riyad Mahrez misses a late penalty at Anfield as the game finishes goalless. Points: Manchester City 20, Liverpool 20 December 2: Liverpool 1-0 Everton Better late than never, Liverpool sneaked past local rival Everton courtesy of Divock Origi's 96th minute winner. Origi, making his first Premier League appearance since August 2017, netted from close-range after a mistake by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Origi scores a dramatic last-minute winner against Everton to give Liverpool bragging rights in the Merseyside derby. The dramatic scenes at the end of the contest were too much for some to handle with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp running onto the pitch to celebrate -- an act he later apologized for. The win moved Liverpool to within two points of Manchester City with 14 games of the season having been played. December 8: Chelsea 2-0 Manchester City Chelsea's David Luiz (R) celebrates with Ross Barkley after scoring his side's second goal in the 2-0 win over Manchester City. City suffered its first defeat of the Premier League season as Chelsea claimed a surprise victory at Stamford Bridge. Goals from N'Golo Kante and David Luiz brought an end to City's 21-game unbeaten league run stretching back to April 2018, and a sequence of 14 unbeaten games away from home. City boss Pep Guardiola refused to blame his players for the defeat, insisting they had been "fantastic." Points: Liverpool 42, Manchester City 41 December 22: Manchester City 2-3 Crystal Palace Andros Townsend's sensational effort helped Crystal Palace secure a shock 3-2 win at City. City suffered its first home defeat of the season as Crystal Palace pulled off a stunning 3-2 win at the Etihad. Trailing to Ilkay Gundogan's 27th-minute strike, Palace roared back to lead 3-1 with Andros Townsend's exquisite strike a contender for goal of the season. Kevin De Bruyne pulled one back with five minutes remaining but Palace held on to record its first win at City for 28 years. The defeat, City's first at home in the league all season, halted a run of nine successive league victories at the Etihad for Guardiola's side. Points: Liverpool 48, Manchester City 44 Dec 29: Liverpool 5-1 Arsenal Roberto Firmino celebrates after scoring a hat-trick in his side's victory over Arsenal. Roberto Firmino scored a hat-trick as Liverpool came from behind to thrash Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield. The home side led 4-1 at the interval with Firmino's quickfire double canceling out Ainsley Maitland Niles' opener for Arsenal, before Sadio Mane and Mo Salah got in on the act. Firmino completed his treble from the penalty spot in the second half to leave Liverpool nine points clear of second place Tottenham and 10 ahead of City. Liverpool's total of 54 points from its opening 20 Premier League games was the third highest in Premier League history after Chelsea (55 in 2005-06) and Manchester City (58 in 2017-18 Points: Liverpool 54, Manchester City 44 January 3: Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool Leroy Sane scores his side's second goal in the 2-1 win over Liverpool at the Etihad. City claimed a dramatic 2-1 win to end Liverpool's unbeaten 20-game start to the Premier League season and move to within four points of Klopp's side. Leroy Sane's strike, 18 minutes from time, secured all three points for City from a game of fine margins at the Etihad. Liverpool was denied the opening goal of the game in the first half when Mane's effort was cleared off the line by John Stones with the ball just 1.12 cm from going over. Having gone so close, it was even more galling for Liverpool when it fell behind to Sergio Aguero's 40th minute strike. Liverpool equalized after the break through Firmino but Sane's strike sealed the points for Guardiola's men. Points: Liverpool 54, Manchester City 50 January 30: Liverpool 1-1 Leicester Leicester City's Harry Maguire shoots to score in the 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Liverpool missed the opportunity to move seven points clear of Manchester City after being held to a 1-1 draw by Leicester at Anfield. After taking a third minute lead through Mane, Klopp's men failed to impose themselves on the contest with a snow-affected pitch causing problems for both sets of players. Harry Maguire's equalizer, just before half time, denied the home side all three points and the opportunity to capitalize on Manchester City's 2-1 defeat by Newcastle 24 hours earlier.<doc-sep>(CNN) The Premier League title race between Manchester City and Liverpool went down to the wire but there were to be no final twists in what's been a thrilling tale. Despite going a goal down in the first half, Man City retained the title after defeating Brighton 4-1 at the Amex Stadium, meaning Liverpool's victory against Wolves was in vain. Sergio Aguero, Aymeric Laporte, Riyad Mahrez, and Ilkay Gundogan all scored for the visitors after Glenn Murray had given the home side the lead on 25 minutes. It's the first time a team has won back-to-back titles since Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United in 2009, and City's total of 98 points is the second highest haul in Premier League history -- two shy of the 100 points Pep Guardiola's men accrued last year. Read More<doc-sep>
Photo : Shaun Botterill ( Getty ) After the season-long struggle between Manchester City and Liverpool to determine which club would have the slightly more perfect season and be named Premier League champion, it all came down to today, the final matchday of the season. And while it was tight there for a while, City did as expected and beat Brighton & Hove Albion to win their second consecutive league title. Man City went to Brighton knowing that a win would seal the title. In the only other match that mattered today—the relegation, Champions League, and Europa League places were for all intents and purposes already locked in after last week’s fixtures—Liverpool hosted Wolves knowing they needed to win and to get some help from Brighton to bring their nearly three-decade title drought to an end. For neutrals most interested in seeing some drama, today got off to a great start. Liverpool got out to an early lead through a Sadio Mané goal in the 17th minute, which ratchete d up the pressure on City: Ten minutes later, Brighton took a shock lead when Glenn Murray scored from a corner in the 27th minute, and it looked like things would get really interesting: Liverpool’s dream of their first title since 1990 wouldn’t last too long, though. Just seconds after Brighton took the lead, Sergio Agüero got City level: About ten minutes after that, Aymeric Laporte had an open header from a corner and converted it to give City the lead: Brighton never really looked like scoring, even when they did score , but with only a one goal lead, City’s title didn’t yet feel secure. Security wouldn’t come until Riyad Mahrez scored the prettiest goal of the match in the 63rd minute to put City ahead by two goals: City scored again a few minutes later to really erase all doubt about whether they’d collapse right at the finish line. Liverpool eventually did beat Wolves, 2-0, but it didn’t matter. City’s 4-1 win meant the Citizens won the title for the second year running. This has been the best title race in years, and from a quality and consistency perspective, probably the best one ever. Though only a single point separated the two, City very much deserved to lift the trophy: the Mancs won the head-to-head matchup against Liverpool (the two matches between them finished with a draw and a City win), won 32 games to Liverpool’s 30, scored the most goals in the league, allowed the second fewest by giving up only one goal more than the Pool Boys, and, per Understat’s advanced metrics, had the far better expected goal stats. A s happy as we are to see the best team win, though, we would have greatly preferred the “You’ll Never Walk Alone” performance of the ages we would’ve been in for had Liverpool won, since instead we had to sit through another rendition of garbage-ass “Wonderwall” :