18th May, 2023
Pep Guardiola has admitted revenge for last season’s semi-final heartache fuelled Manchester City’s stunning 4-0 victory over Real Madrid.
City will face Inter Milan in the Champions League final on June 10 in Istanbul thanks to a Bernardo Silva brace alongside strikes from Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez.
The dominant evening was particularly sweet for Pep Guardiola and Co having seen off holders Real, who they crashed out to at this stage of the competition last season in agonising style.
On getting payback for that 6-5 aggregate loss, Guardiola said: “Listen, I had the feeling these last days that we had a mix of calm and tension to play this type of game.
“After 10 or 15 minutes, I had the feeling that all the pain that we had during one year from what happened last season was there today.
“In that moment, we had to swallow poison and football and sport always gives you another chance.
“When the draw was Madrid, I said ‘yeah I want it’. I wanted it because I think today everything was there — the energy we had from a year of being criticised as players for not having character when we lost because it was football.
“Today it was there and I’m pleased for the whole organisation — for the chairman, owner, staff and especially all the players because we accepted the defeat and today we were there.”
City can seal the Premier League title against Chelsea on Saturday, with hopes of becoming only the second English side to win the Treble still very much alive.
The Citizens face Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley a week before they head to Istanbul looking for their first ever Champions League triumph.
The Catalan coach added: “We are one game away from winning the Premier League for three years in a row, and we have been in two Champions League finals and one semi-final.
“That is consistency. I always put the example of being Carabao Cup winners for four years in a row. That means the level of this team.”