Sport will always give you another chance: Guardiola

MANCHESTER: Following his side’s thumping win over Real Madrid in the semifinal of the UEFA Champions League, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola expressed how pain and heartbreak from the semifinal finish in the previous edition of the tournament back in 2022 had inspired his side to a win.

Manchester City stormed into the finals of the UEFA Champions League after thrashing defending champions Real Madrid 4-0 in the second leg of their semifinal match at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

“These guys have done it for many years and today they got the reward they deserve. A final against an Italian team,” Pep said after the match as quoted by the official website of the club.

“When the draw was Real Madrid, I said want it. Today it was there. I am very pleased for the organisation, the chairman, owner and players. I had the feeling these last days we had a mix of calm and tension to play these types of games. After 10 or 15 minutes I had the feeling that all the pain that we had during one season last season was today there. It was so tough and hard here last season – we played quite similarly to the way we played today,” added Guardiola.

He said that the sport always gives you another chance, one just has to “swallow the poison.”

“You have to swallow poison and swallow everything, be kind and football and sport always give you another chance. We accept defeat and today we were there. Football and life always gives you an opportunity and the important thing is to never give up and try again,” said Guardiola.

“The important thing is to be there and we are one game away from being Premier League winners. If it happens we are three years in a row winners of the Premier League and twice in a Champions League final and one semi-final and that is consistency,” Guardiola concluded his point.

It is shaping up to be an incredible season for City as they need a win to capture the Premier League title for the third time in a row and are also set to play arch-rivals Manchester United in the final of the FA Cup in June. Now, they are finalists in the Champions League and stare at the possibility of a treble.

About this treble, Guardiola said that it is about taking one game at a time. “We are closer. At the end in the Premier League, we are close, we need one more game. And when you play against neighbours and Italian teams be calm. Our fans were happy… this is the biggest compliment. The pleasure of being there and playing Inter is incalculable. We are going to enjoy the occasion. We are going to try to win – we cannot say we are going to win for definite. And of course, we are going to try,” he concluded.

City has set up the title clash with Inter Milan after a 5-1 win on aggregate against the Spanish giant. The two sides had previously played out a 1-1 draw at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the first leg of the semifinal.

Bernardo Silva was at his best, scoring a brace (23rd and 37th minute) in the first half of the match to put defending champions under the pump. Carlo Ancelotti’s side tried to fight their way back into the match but a goal by Manuel Akanji (76th minute) and Julian Alvarez’s stoppage-time (91st minute) finish only widened the margin.

City are in incredible form, having gone unbeaten for 23 games so far, winning their previous 15 clashes at their home ground. On June 10, they will be playing their second UEFA Champions League final against Inter Milan, hoping to ease the pain of loss to Chelsea in the summit clash of the 2020-21 edition of the league.