With the historic victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and reaching the Champions League final for the first time in Manchester City’s history, coach Pep Guardiola, who won the title twice with Barcelona, ended a 10-year wait to return to the final. He seemed well aware of the magnitude of his team's achievement. Guardiola reached the final with Barcelona in 2011 when he defeated Manchester United, led by veteran manager Alex Ferguson, 3-1. Since then, he has been striving to replicate that success, whether with his former club Bayern Munich or with Manchester City, which he took charge of in 2016.
In this year's tournament, Manchester City, under Guardiola's leadership, won all six of their knockout stage matches, including the return leg against PSG on Tuesday, where Algerian star Riyad Mahrez scored two goals to lead Manchester City to the dream final, as the English team triumphed 4-1 on aggregate.
The Spanish coach stated, "Some think it’s easy to reach the Champions League final. Qualifying for the final is logical after what we've done over the past four or five years. The players perform consistently every time, which is exceptional." He continued, "This is for all of us and for the club... I’m extremely proud."
He did not forget to highlight the strength of Paris Saint-Germain: "We defeated the team that eliminated Barcelona and Bayern Munich from this year’s tournament." The Spanish coach also spoke about how the match unfolded, saying, "We struggled at the beginning of the game, but we were much better in the second half. It was an incredible victory for us."
He summarized the team's journey: "What the players have done this season is amazing, coming in the toughest year everyone has experienced... being close to winning the Premier League and reaching the Champions League final is very good."
"What we've done over the past four years has been amazing—winning league titles and cups, and in every competition we’ve entered... reaching the Champions League final is extremely difficult (...) but we did it. We had a fantastic season in the Champions League and now, we deserve to be there. We will play in the final."
Manchester City will face either local rivals Chelsea or Spanish side Real Madrid in the final in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 29, with the second leg of their semifinal clash taking place today, noting that the first leg in Madrid ended in a 1-1 draw.
