Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has given a brutal assessment of where his team stands in the hierarchy of football greats ahead of their upcoming UEFA Champions League final clash with Inter Milan.
The Premier League champions are fast rising to become one of the dominant forces in England after seven Premier League titles in 15 years. Those seven wins took them to nine total top-flight titles in their history, placing them in joint fourth with Everton on the most successful English teams in the top flight.
As their stock continues to rise in England, they have now set their sights on European success.
The last 15 years have seen them compete on equal ground with the best of the best, with their poorest finish being group stage exits in their first two seasons back in Europe’s elite competition. As they got a hang of playing in Europe, they made it to the semi-finals in their fifth season back and from then on, their poorest outing has been a quarter-final exit.
They are gearing up for their second final against an opponent who has three titles and will be playing in their seventh final. Many believe that a win on Saturday will seal City’s status as a European great and that they will officially earn the right to be called a big club.
Guardiola, who will be managing his fourth Champions League final – his second with Manchester City – come Saturday, echoed these sentiments to charge his team ahead of their clash with the Serie A giants. “So many clubs have destroyed projects and ideas because they weren’t able to win this competition, and so many have become big clubs because they were able to win it,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager said.
“We must also accept that if we want to make a definitive step as a big club, we must win in Europe. We have to win the Champions League, that’s something you can’t avoid. But the most important thing is to be there again and again and again.
“Two years ago, we were there. Two years later, we are here again. The most important thing is to be here again in a few years. That’s what defines a big club when year after year, you make it to the Champions League fighting in the latest stages and winning the title.”
Guardiola also sounded a note of warning to his team’s opponents, led by Simone Inzaghi.
He stated that their history in the tournament would not be enough to grant them a free ride to the title on Saturday 10 June 2023 at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey.
