Pep Guardiola believes Manchester City gatecrashing the established elite is “uncomfortable” for their Premier League rivals. Famously labelled Manchester United’s ‘noisy neighbours’ by Sir Alex Ferguson, City’s takeover by their Abu Dhabi owners in 2008 and then the appointment of Guardiola as manager in 2016 have led to gradual progress from insignificant upstarts to the dominant force in English football. City have lifted the Premier League trophy in five of the last six campaigns, including three in a row, while their crowning moment came last season as they emulated Ferguson’s 1998-99 treble-winning side. Guardiola marvelled at how the fortunes of the clubs have switched ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby at Old Trafford, where City could extend their lead between the teams to nine points with a victory. “Sir Alex was right (at the time), City were not challenging, they were in the middle to bottom,” Guardiola said. “United and Arsenal at the time were the richest ones, that’s why City were there. “But after that, Sheikh Mansour and Khaldoon (Al Mubarak), who took over and made an investment. After that Sir Alex could not expect to know that and not even myself who was in Barcelona. “We were not in the elite and now we are in the elite, maybe it’s uncomfortable for many things. That is a reality and we want to stay as long as possible.” United have not won the league since Ferguson’s departure at the end of the 2012-13 season, coming closest under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, both of whom presided over runners-up finishes. Liverpool have been our biggest rivals - they made us challenge higher and higher and helped make us a better team in all departments. They challenged us like no other team has done before Pep Guardiola While Guardiola was adamant United will always be regarded as one of the top English clubs, the Spaniard suspects any chance of bringing back the glory days the red half of Manchester enjoyed under Ferguson is gone because of the number of sides now challenging for honours. Such has been the trajectories of both clubs over the last decade, Guardiola admitted he does not consider United their biggest rivals – insisting that honour belongs to Liverpool. Asked if United can dominate again, Guardiola responded: “Maybe not in the way that Sir Alex Ferguson did because back then there were just two or three teams, now there are more with a lot of incredible managers. “Maybe not in that way but if they take good decisions, with the hierarchy, with the sports director, with the managers, with the players and the same ideas, Manchester United when something happens is in the highlights all day. “The reputation and the prestige they have is always there. It just needs to click. “There was one year with Ole that was close. But Liverpool have been our biggest rivals – they made us challenge higher and higher and helped make us a better team in all departments. They challenged us like no other team has done before.” Erik ten Hag led United to third place last season, as well as winning the Carabao Cup and finishing runners-up to City in the FA Cup final, but they have fluctuated in this campaign with four losses in nine games. Guardiola pointed out it took him a while before finding sustained success with City, having finished third in his first season in charge in 2016-17. “It takes time,” Guardiola added. “United is able to win four, five six games in a row. If they do that they will be on top. “Leave the manager to do the job that here they allowed me to do in my first season when we didn’t win. Give time to the managers and they will do it.” Read More South Africa edge New Zealand to win Rugby World Cup for record fourth time Jamie George demands ‘clarity’ over hybrid contracts for England players Gary O’Neil labels Newcastle penalty ‘scandalous decision’ Jude Bellingham delighted after doing ‘something special’ to win El Clasico Wolves dig deep to earn dramatic draw with Newcastle Vincent Kompany incensed by decision not to review handball in Bournemouth loss

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Apple will hold a “special event” in the coming days, it has revealed. The live streamed event will almost certainly see the launch of the new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9, but could bring other products too. Apple will hold the event on 12 September, at 10am local pacific time, or 5pm in the UK, it said. Apple gave no clues about what that launch might include in its invitation. It only showed a picture of the Apple logo being swept away as if it was made of sand – and a single word to describe the event. Apple has hinted at the contents of previous events in its invitations. Last year, for instance, it called the event “Far Out” and included a picture of stars – which turned out to be a reference to the satellite communication technology in the iPhone 14. This year’s image does include the colours that have been rumoured to be included in the iPhone 15 Pro lineup. Reports have suggested that will include four hues: a deep blue, a black, and a lighter and darker shade of grey. Beyond those colours, the iPhone 15 Pro and Max are set to include a new and faster chip, a new action button on the side, a slightly different design with smaller bezels and titanium frame, and better battery life. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is also rumoured to include a new periscope camera that will allow for further zoom without adding extra bulk to the lens. The non-Pro versions of the iPhone 15 will largely be brought in line with the existing iPhone 14 Pro, rumours have suggested, though all the new phones will get a USB-C port. That will include getting its faster A16 Bionic chip, the dynamic island at the top of the display that replaced the notch and an improved camera. The event will be live streamed from Apple Park. Since the pandemic, Apple has moved away from holding onstage events, instead producing small films that are broadcast live online and shown to press at a screening at its Apple Park campus. Read More Apple says its new product is making people ‘audibly gasp’ The powerful technology hidden in every iPhone – and all around you iPhone 15 could bring two major changes to fix battery life

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Greek authorities have issued fresh evacuation orders for parts of Corfu as dozens of wildfires erupted on the island after blaze in Rhodes prompted “the biggest evacuation in Greek history”. Videos on social media show flames engulfing Corfu as smoke and orange haze covered the night skies. The fire broke out on the northern part of the island which is popular with British tourists. Those in Santa, Megoula, Porta, Palia Perithia and Sinies were told to evacuate to Kasiopi due to fires on Corfu. The order came after Jet2 and Tui cancelled all flights to Rhodes. The Jet2 planes were scheduled to depart full of tourists bound for the Greek island. But the planes left empty and will instead be used to evacuate holidaymakers fleeing the blaze. Thousands of tourists were forced to flee their hotels and images captured their dramatic evacuation off of beaches by a fleet of private boats while the fires raged in the background. Overnight, firefighters were struggling to contain 82 wildfires burning across the country, 64 of which started on Sunday, the hottest day of the summer so far. Read More Wildfires on Greek island of Rhodes force thousands of holidaymakers to evacuate From body bags of ice to pavement burn: US grapples with new extreme heat reality Hiker, 71, dies in Death Valley shortly after being asked by reporter why he was braving heat: ‘Why not?’ July 2023 is set to be world’s hottest month in ‘hundreds, if not thousands, of years’

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