Champions League: Pep Guardiola learned that from the setbacks

Status: 08:24 a.m | Reading time: 5 minutes

Pep Guardiola stood there with watery eyes. The Spaniard, who had experienced and won everything in football, fought back tears after beating Real Madrid 4-0 (2-0). The Manchester City coach became emotional after beating the royal team and getting into the Champions League final. The 52-year-old is just one win away from breaking a 12-year curse and finally experiencing the crowning glory with Manchester City, for which he has been desperately fighting since taking office seven years ago. On June 10th, Manchester City will undoubtedly be the big favorites going into the final against Inter Milan in Istanbul.

“I had a good gut feeling, even after what happened last year. We suffered a lot there,” said Guaradiola, alluding to the semi-final defeat by Real when his team conceded two goals in added time. “It was very quiet in the dressing room beforehand, the players made some jokes, I hadn’t felt any excitement or fear. We showed character and a cohesive team performance,” he summed up.

The win against Madrid was a show of power by Manchester. The team around captain Ilkay Gündgoan played like unleashed from the first minute and literally overran Real. It was only thanks to the outstanding goalkeeper Thibault Courtois that Real were only 0: 2 behind at the break after a brace by Bernardo Silvas. The visitors couldn’t have complained if they went into the dressing room with four or five goals conceded. What City played over 90 minutes was close to perfection. “It’s not that logically we didn’t want to. Manchester City was too strong. City players were hard to get hold of. We were often a meter or two apart,” said Real midfielder Toni Kroos: “Long story short: we deserved to be eliminated.”

Manchester City kept disappointing in the Champions League

Long relays of the ball were followed by quick and direct passes to the top, as in Julian Alvarez’s 4-0 lead in the final phase. It is exactly the football that Guardiola has been preaching and playing for 15 years. With Gündogan, Kevin de Bruyne, Silva and Erling Haaland, he has the players who implement his philosophy. “It was the night a seven-year reign reached its climax, when perfection flared and the impossible dream of a treble became a possibility,” wrote British tabloid The Sun after the exhilarating evening of football.

Guardiola’s seven-year spell in Manchester has so far been accompanied by many disappointments in the Champions League – three times it ended in the quarter-finals, in the first year he failed in the round of 16, and last season there was a bitter last-second defeat against Real. Despite four championships and five cup wins, it is the title in the premier class that really counts for City. Especially for the powerful investors from Abu Dhabi around Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who have pumped well over a billion euros into the club since 2009.

Guardiola and Manchester were closest to the crowning glory two years ago when there was a surprise defeat against Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel (0-1) in the final. Guardiola seems to have learned from this bitter disappointment. Since the 3-1 win with his FC Barcelona against Manchester United twelve years ago, he has been chasing his third triumph in the premier class. He did it with Barca, then three years with FC Bayern and since 2016 with City – too desperate, too perfectionist, too obsessed with detail. He often overwhelmed his teams, all of whom had the potential to triumph, with his tactical tinkering. His teams didn’t fail because of overpowering opponents, bad luck with injuries or bad decisions – it seemed as if they no longer completely understood their coach and his decisions.

But Guardiola has obviously learned to let go. In the past, he often surprisingly changed his tactics before important games, but he hasn’t changed his team and the system for months. The coach gives his stars more freedom on the pitch. With success: City are in top form in the decisive phase of the season and conceded their last defeat in February (0-1 against Tottenham). Manchester is not only in the Champions League before the big triumph. The team can already make the championship perfect against Chelsea next Sunday. And a week before the Champions League final, City meet city rivals United in the FA Cup final.

“Unfortunately we don’t have time to celebrate”

“Unfortunately we don’t have time to celebrate because we can win the Premier League on Sunday,” said Guardiola. After all, he gave his players Thursday off so “they could spend time with their families.” There is much to suggest that City is having a perfect season and clinching the treble from the cup, league and Champions League.

In addition to United in the cup, Inter Milan are also standing in the way. The Italians go into the final as blatant underdogs. But Guardiola wouldn’t be Guardiola if he didn’t belittle City’s role as favourite: “To be honest, a final against an Italian team isn’t the best present. They’re hard to beat. But we have time to prepare mentally.”