Pep Guardiola turned the air blue at the start of his post-match interview after Manchester City beat Inter Milan to win the Champions League on Saturday night. The Spaniard watched his side lift Europe’s top prize in Istanbul thanks to Rodri scoring the only goal of the game in the second half, completing an historic treble for City. Guardiola, who has now won the Champions League three times, admitted he was feeling the effects of a long and draining season and insisted that it is “very difficult” to win the trophy. Asked how he felt, he told BT Sport: “Tired, calm, satisfied of course. This f***ing trophy is so difficult to win. It’s impossible. They [Inter] are really good, really, really good. It’s similar, Antonio Conte will know what they do, it’s quite similar. They bring you up, find strikers, link really well. They can keep it and then run for the other side. The first half we were so anxious. The man free was John Stones and we couldn’t find him. But the main thing was to be patient. I said at half time the last time we were 1-0 down in Porto [2021 Champions League final against Chelsea], this time it’s 0-0.”
Guardiola also said that his side have improved since that 1-0 defeat to Chelsea two years ago, saying: “I think we defend a little bit better in the box. Four central defenders, proper defenders, I feel we’re more solid.” He added that his team were lucky to win the trophy and praised Ederson for his save at the end of the match.
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