Pep Guardiola has backed Manchester City to return to the Champions League final as he reacted to the heartbreak of losing to Chelsea in Porto. In their final game of the season, City fell at the final hurdle in Portugal as Chelsea were better on the night and edged out 1-0 winners. Guardiola had to defend his team selection, which saw him name an extra attacker in Raheem Sterling rather than a conventional defensive midfielder, but he insisted his side played well after a gruelling season.
Pep Guardiola said: “It’s an exceptional season for us, is an honour to be here, today we are sad. We’ll analyse an exceptional season for us. It was a tough game, we had almost the first clear chances, they missed one with Werner and in the second half with Pulisic. In the second half we were brilliant, we were brave. We couldn’t convert the goals because they are so strong. So fast on the counter-attack. We didn’t allow them to make the process to play. The players were exceptional all of them. We’ll come back one day again.”
With a testing nine-month season over, and with City having played solidly for 11 of the last 12 months, Guardiola said he is looking forward to a rest over the summer as he challenged his players to come back for pre-season training ready to try and defend the titles they have won and go one step further in the Champions League.
Pep Guardiola said: “The ambition now is rest. After we prepare the next season, try to recover mentally the players. In one month, two months they come back. Game by game we do it. It’s the first time in this stage, for us it’s an honour to be here and hopefully we’ll learn for the future.
Speaking in his press conference,
Pep Guardiola said: “It was a season with 62 games and we played 61. It was tough for us all in the pandemic world. If today we analyse the game we are sad, congratulations Chelsea, we will learn from this. But the season was exceptional, I have incredible respect for the players, they gave everything, we couldn’t win but we will come back in the future stronger. I want to go home with my family. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them. After that I’ll come back to the club. It’s going to be the best club in the world for the next few years.”
